E168 
.W68 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDDD34 c ]E7bA 











.^» • • • » *G v3 *o . » * J\ 





;• .♦♦*% 



,<a> 6 .m,^ _ n * ... ^ 



' ^ 



^** 









°o 



*P^ .-<0W*'< * 



*P^ 





A> a " 



A? •!*•* > V * 










vV 














^6" 


























^ ^ 

w 





























V 




HOLIDAY RAMBLES 



BY 



THOMAS READ WILKINSON 



"Keep not standing, fixed and rooted, 
Briskly venture, — briskly roam ; 
Head and hand, where'er thou foot it, 

And stout heart are still at home. 
In each land the sun does visit, 
We are gay, whate'er betide ; 
To give space for wandering is it 
That the world was made so wide ? " 

Goethe. 



MANCHESTER: 

JAMES F. WILKINSON', GUTTENBERG WORKS, PENDLETON. 



t 












2j 






MY FRIENDS AT HOME AND IN MANY LANDS 



I DEDICATE THESE PAGES 



WHICH RECALL SO MUCH OF SUNLIGHT 



AND AFFECTION 



THAT HAVE MADE LIFE WORTH LIVING. 



i? 



PREFACE. 



It is in response to the wishes of many friends that I have ventured to 
reprint these ephemera. 

Since my return from the United States I have had many applications for 
copies of the two descriptive letters which I wrote on the voyage out. Their 
appearance in the Manchester City News constrained me to continue a record 
of my movements, and led me, without premeditation, to write the letters 
from America. 

During the process of revision I have been pleasantly reminded of other 
journeyingsin foreign parts, as well as of pedestrian excursions over mountain 
and moorland, in the days that are no more. And I have thought that it 
would not be an unsuitable occasion to insert one or two more of my earlier 
sketches, out of a rather numerous selection, as companion pictures, and to 
give variety. 

I have not gone back beyond twenty years, although so long ago as 1844 
I found myself writing accounts of travel in Scotland, and since then Ireland 
has on several occasions attracted me to her mountains and to her magnificent 
lonely rock-bound Western coast. In the few weeks of annual rest from the 
labour and care of business, I have had much enjoyment in tramping over 
the mountains of the Lake Country and of the Principality. But my chief 
delight has been to ramble through the length and breadth of Old England ; 
so rich in quaint market towns, in villages and churches, in crosses, in Gothic 
Cathedrals, in ancient monasteries and Norman castles ; in short, in innumer- 
able memorials of a thousand years of history ; attracted by the everlasting 
beauty of her cultivated fertile valleys and green pastures, rich in flocks and 
herds, or glowing with golden grain ; by her hills and dales, her rivers and 
lakes, by her white cliffs, and by the all-encircling sea that laps her shores. 

It is not, therefore, for lack of material for descriptions of our grand old 
country that I have not inserted in this volume an English tour, but rather 
because I thought my impressions of other lands might have more freshness 
for, and be more attractive to, many friends, who may not have become so 
accustomed to the pleasures of the home circuit, so to speak, as myself. 
The letters from Norway originally appeared in the Manchester Examiner 
and Times, and the description of the Passion Play in the Springfield 
Republican, Springfield, Mass., U.S. 

I am exceedingly indebted to my friend Mr. George Crozier, to whom 
I here tender my hearty thanks, for the illustrations which he has drawn 
to accompany the letters from Norway, visited by him in 1873. 

To my brother I owe many thanks for the care he has bestowed in bringing 
out the volume. 

T. R. WILKINSON. 

The Polygon, Ardwick, Manchester, 
jQth March, 1SS1. 



^2 




i^mfs 



A MONTH IN AMERICA 



I. LIVERPOOL TO QUEENSTOWN. 



T 1-45 p.m. on Saturday, the 1 ith of September, 1880, the steam- 
ship Scythia moved from her anchorage, on her voyage across 
the Atlantic. One of her passengers at least had looked forward to such 
a voyage for certainly more than twenty years, and (as the unexpected 
always happens) he had found himself, with only forty-eight hours' 
notice, on the way to realising a long-cherished idea. At the same 
moment that our good ship moved, another vast steamship, the Baltic, 
steamed out of the Mersey on the same voyage. 

What magnificent works these ocean steamers are ! There is no single 
achievement which so specially characterises the progress of modern 
times as the ocean steamer. It has bound together with enduring ties 
the continents of Europe and America, and made the mighty waste 
of waters truly the highway of the nations. We have on board some 
two hundred and seventy first-class passengers, besides the captain, 
officers, and crew. There is a large cargo, no doubt, in the hold. 
Besides this, each man will have two or three packages, each 
woman three or four at least. Let us say a thousand boxes or 
packages. 

We sit down to breakfast at 8-30. We have luncheon ; we dine at 
six. There is a congregating at night about nine for further refresh- 
ment of some sort. Fish, flesh, fowl, vegetables, fruits, drinks — we 
shall consume a small Smithfield or Covent Garden Market on the 
voyage. Then there are the vast furnaces deep down in the ship, with 
the incessant consumption of coal, and the ponderous but exquisitely- 



A MONTH IN AMERICA. 



constructed machinery for pushing us over the three thousand miles of 
ocean. This is surely something we may reasonably consider as a 
conquest over difficulties, and an evidence at all events of material 
advancement. But with this, I think, has come advancement in other 
directions. The world of man has been brought nearer together ; 
distinctions have been softened ; the Christian idea of the strong help- 
ing the weak, the spirit of human sympathy, which received such 
an impetus in consequence of the Puritan emigration to the Western 
continent, has been carried round the earth, and steam and electricity 
are helping greatly to bring about 

" The parliament of peoples, 
The federation of the world." 

Well, we parted from our friends truly with an undercurrent of sad- 
ness, but with pleasant mirth upon our lips. With a hearty cheer the 
tender slipped behind, and we were actually making for the Western 
World. 

Along the Mersey, on whose banks, fringed with rich foliage, is the 
familiar shore or sand of New Brighton, quite gay with a crowd of 
holiday-makers ; then we pass the old Formby light-ship ; now we 
are running at full speed along the Welsh coast (quite near our neigh- 
bour ship still), the mountains looking their best this glorious, sunny, 
breezy afternoon. And what a range for grand solid mass and sweep- 
ing outline is the Snowdon group. There is Carnedd Lewellyn and 
Carnedd Dafydd, up whose ancient summits our children were climbing 
the other day, and there the long and yellow sands of Penmaenmawr 
and Llanfairfechan and Aber, and the sweetly quiet old Beaumaris, 
with new Llandudno, queen of the Welsh sea resorts. There, too, is 
Puffin Island, whilst nearer stand out the sullen rocks of Anglesey. It 
is a day of uncommon beauty. The sky towards the west is pure clear 
blue, with a vast over-arching curtain of light clouds above. The 
mountain sides and the green valleys shine in the sunlight. Over all 
blows the delicious south-west wind. 

Day at last dies away, and with the dusk come out the everlasting 
stars and a pale moon. As darkness overspreads us the ship's track 
is visible by the white foam and flashes of phosphorescence seen in 
our wake, which are very beautiful to look upon. And then from the 



LIVERPOOL TO QUEENSTOWN. 



heavenly constellations our eyes descend, and those careful watch-lights, 
like friendly stars, flash frequently in sight. How much of forethought 
there is on every jutting headland and on many dangerous reefs round 
these sea-dashed islands ! Every night a thousand lights flash around 
our coast to warn from danger, and to guide the path of the departing 
or returning mariner. How little we know or think, who live our lives 
in great cities, what a world of experience has been crystallised into 
life-saving appliances like the South Stack and Eddystone lighthouses ! 
It was with such thoughts as these that I went down into my com- 
fortable cabin to rest and refreshing sleep. The south-west wind 
brought on its wings rain clouds that cooled the night air, and in the 
morning (Sunday), when I awoke about seven, we were running 
through unusually heavy rain. 

At eight the clouds had broken, the sky dappled blue and white, 
a fresh breeze was blowing, and we sailed into the magnificent 
harbour of Oueenstown, where the mightiest navy in the world might 
safely ride at anchor. The long line of sweeping hills, many crowned 
with dense wood, and all dotted with white-looking houses, make a 
beautiful picture — Oueenstown crowning the picture like Constan- 
tinople in the centre of the Golden Horn. 

The air is laden with sweet odours from the land. The bay is 
peopled with many ships and small craft at anchor or gliding across 
its almost unruffled surface. Seagulls in thousands float and fly and 
flutter around. Small boats laden with fresh vegetables and fruits 
come near. The sun shines, and every man, woman, and child on 
board the ship is delighted and happy. The passengers' letters 
arrive — they are from New York — what a rush of those who are going 
home ! Many anxieties are hushed and some brought to light by 
this arrival. I see in some eyes tears of gratitude, and in others 
sadness at news of sudden care and trouble. 



^ 




A MONTH IN AMERICA. 




II. ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. 



BOUT three o'clock in the afternoon, our tender came along- 
side, bringing the English mail and more passengers, as well as 
those who had gone ashore for the morning. What a mass of correspon- 
dence there is in those bags — quite a deckfull of huge bags of letters ! 
These are the threads, which carried by the steam shuttle of an ocean 
steamer, are perpetually weaving between the two English-speaking 
countries, bonds that can never be broken. The last packages at length 
are brought on board, the great anchor is lifted up, and we move out of 
the harbour towards the Atlantic, our tender going in company a short 
way, and then we are alone. The last light, Fastnet, fades in the dim dis- 
tance as the moon rises and the stars appear in a clear, cold, grey sky : 
the wind is freshening, and the white rolling waves are gathering force, 
as if for a trial of strength with our floating home. As we had passed 
away from the shelving coast of Old Ireland, green and fresh with the 
spray of the unresting Atlantic wave, shoals of porpoises disported 
themselves alongside, and actually crossed the path of the ship. Later 
in the evening we were all delighted by the sight of a true lunar rainbow 
which spanned the heavens. With night came rough winds and the 
discomfort of the sea. The next morning there were many sickly faces 
and not a large gathering at breakfast ; for the sea was sullen and the 
sky without sun. As the day advanced, it might be truly said of the 
merriest man of the previous night, " he had a subdued air." Such is 
the effect of a troubled sea. 

Monday we ran 258 miles ; Sunday 252. But there was little inci- 
dent to record. All nature was somewhat leaden in colour. Tuesday 
morning was brighter and brought evidence of improvement on all 
sides. Sunshine, less rush and whirl of water alongside, more dispo- 
sition to talk and be cheerful : glass rising. But no festive board for 
more than a select and seasoned few ; the rest of our company may 



ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. 



be found in quiet nooks and corners huddled under wraps on chairs 
and such like, hugging their private griefs, each in his or her own 
peculiar way. And so the second day out of Oueenstown passed. 

Wednesday brought us lighter air, smooth seas, brilliant sky, exuberant 
spirits. What a wonderful change ! The grand ship herself seemed 
nerved with a new force and pushed forward with added majesty and 
grace. Little festivities go forward on board. Games unseen before 
are played on deck. Cards and a variety of games appear. Singing, 
tale-telling, good humour, merry laughter of girls, and all that speaks 
of joyous feeling pervades the numerous company. Places yesterday 
vacant at table are now occupied at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 
a murmur of congratulations makes musical the saloon. And so the 
day goes on ; the sunshine fades, the stars and moon sail into the quiet 
heavens, and in the stillness of the sea and air, the only sound is the 
throbbing of that great iron heart, the pulsations of which push us on 
our watery way. 

Thursday morning dawns grey and misty ; a thin film hangs over 
the vast expanse of ocean, and our fog-horn is sounded each minute. 
Now those who bid high for the high figures last night at the auction 
of distances run by the ship during the twenty-fours, ending at twelve 
noon to-day, are somewhat disheartened, and those who held by the 
lower figures are equally elated. I must explain. On certain evenings 
a number of figures, say 305 to 335 (that is thirty numbers), are offered 
by auction — that figure, say 331 or 317, which represents the actual 
run of the ship, taking the result of the auction. The thing is very 
amusing to witness ; but as the man said who had never seen loo 
played before, " It's very like gambling." Our run was announced to 
have been 336 miles. 

Friday morning opened brilliantly ; a soft south-west wind brought 
a delicious coolness, needed to mitigate the sun's heat. A cloudless 
sky overarched the vast expanse of deep blue sea. On either bow of 
the vessel, at some distance, three ships in full sail glided along, whilst 
far away the masts of a large receding vessel barred the horizon. My 
sea-going friends told me that this was an unusual sight in mid-ocean, 
and I had been surprised that we had seen so few vessels since leaving 
Queenstown. 



A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

We are a varied company. Almost all the nationalities of Europe 
are represented ; many ladies, some beautiful and accomplished and 
young, who favour us with music and sing ; others, like too many in 
the world, prosaic and prudish to an extent not pleasant. Of men 
there are only two or three who may be called disagreeable, whilst 
there are some who possess and practise all the Christian virtues ; 
and on board ship there is great scope for such experience. My friend 
of sea experiences again tells me that he has never, during his many 
voyages, been in so delightful a ship's company, so that I feel I am 
enjoying a sail of more than ordinary attractiveness. At all events 
I can say truly that the last four days have been among the happiest 
days of my life. With congenial human society, under sunny skies 
upon the untroubled ocean, — 

" What more felicity can fall to creature, 
Than to enjoy delight with liberty ? : ' 
And the deep undercurrent of feeling, the diapason to all this melo- 
dious life, which runs homeward to those we hold most dear, is never 
absent, as well as the lighter and hopeful thoughts of what pleasant 
meetings of welcome are in store for us in the West. 

In crossing the Atlantic in this grand ship, so abundantly provided 
with all the conveniences and comforts — nay, even luxuries of life, one 
cannot help looking back to the early days of our great seamen, the 
days of Frobisher, Drake, and Raleigh, and wondering at their doings 
in their insignificant boats. Truly they were men of heroic hearts, who 
went forth hungering for adventure and discovery, wrestling with diffi- 
culties and dangers such as are not easily realized by the modern mind. 
Out of the strong will and endeavour of those earlier days have grown 
the marvels of our own times. The epic of steel and steam has, how- 
ever, yet to be written. 

We are in the Gulf Stream, and the air is deliciously balmy ; like 
moths, we are all brought on deck by the glitter of the sunlight, and 
there is a general feeling throughout the company that they would like 
it to be always afternoon. We are quite a company of Lotos eaters, 
and feel like work no more. With evening came rain, driving us to 
the saloon and smoke-room for our amusements, and succeeding the 
rain came winds to help us on our way as well as to send many to 



ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. 



bed. Saturday brought more rain and a heavy atmosphere, which caused 
us all to look " sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," and a general 
dulness supervened. Under these circumstances most people go down 
to write letters home, which may account for a variety of things. 

The evening of Saturday, 18th September, when we had been a week 
at sea, was beautiful. The sun went down behind a bank of cloud in 
yellow radiance, leaving a cold, clear sky, into which presently sailed 
the full-orbed moon, golden in colour, and large, the harvest moon of 
England, followed shortly by Jupiter, brilliant amongst the starry 
host. We sat on deck watching the wonders of the night until the 
moon had reached high in the heavens, and only the midnight hour 
and the now chilly air sent us to bed. Sunday opened fittingly after 
a superb night ; the sky a silver grey, such as is never seen in England ; 
the sea deep blue, the horizon sharply defined ; a delicious breeze 
sweeping over all ; all our little colony full of cheerfulness and happy 
faces at breakfast, and afterwards walking on the spacious deck, which 
is one of the chief advantages a Cunard boat has over those of the 
other lines. At 10.30 we went down to the saloon, where a Church of 
England service was held — the captain reading prayers, an American 
clergyman preaching, a few ladies and gentlemen acting as choir, with 
a piano accompaniment. It is a beautiful and touching sight to 
witness out here in the North Atlantic Ocean a household, for we may 
call ourselves one, gathering together and lifting up their hearts and 
voices to the Infinite Father, and pouring forth, each in its own way, 
some feeling of gratitude for the many enjoyments of sight and sound 
which had followed us daily. The captain, like the father of the 
family, was our mouthpiece, and prayed from the heart ; manliness 
and simplicity are in him richly combined. The soul-penetrating 
hymn, " Nearer, my God, to Thee," lifted all of us into a region at one 
with the sea, and sunlight, and the illimitable vault of heaven. As the 
day advanced, so grew the wonderful beauty of the sea and sky. 
The immense vault of blue seemed lifted immeasurably higher, and 
the circling sea took colour more intense. As evening came and 
the sun disappeared beyond the sea, rich orange hues overspread the 
western sky, and, as on the previous night, the golden moon sailed 
grandly into sight, followed by many stars. 



8 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

These descriptions, no doubt, are very much alike day by day, but, 
remember, our only companions are the sea and sky, and some of us are 
seeing these majestic wonders almost for the first time. Let not those 
who live in cities imagine they know the boundless wealth of beauty 
and grandeur which the heavens disclose unless they have been across 
the great deep. I never before so fully realised as during this voyage 
the meaning of Wordsworth, when he says : — 

"And I have felt 
A presence that disturbs me with the joy 
Of elevated thoughts ; a sense sublime 
Of something far more deeply interfused, 
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 
And the round ocean, and the living air, 
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man : 
A motion and a spirit that impels 
All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 
And rolls through all things." 

Grand as have been the days and nights through which we have 
passed, a fresh and great delight was experienced this morning, when, 
at six o'clock, I went on deck and saw the sun rise out of the sea, 
filling the sky with splendour beyond speech or pen. Crimson and 
gold and blue in the east, pale delicate colours with a fading moon in 
the west. All that the poets have sung of the Golden Gates of day 
was revealed in this transcendent transfiguring sunrise. The happy 
hours flew past ; ships with their white wings spread moved along the 
horizon ; butterflies came fluttering about the ship, a bird alighted on 
the mast, but seeing a white-sailed vessel at no great distance flew 
there. There is a busy movement of passengers suddenly. What is 
happening ? The man on the look-out cries out, and the word 
" Pilot " is in every mouth. Presently we see a small four-oared boat 
like a speck ahead; it has put off from a lugger standing off a mile 
or so. Now we approach the boat, the boatmen ply their oars 
vigorously, the great engines are stopped, a rope is thrown and a rope- 
ladder let down the ship's side. The pilot seizes the thrown rope and 
swings himself dextrously and with skill on to the ladder and in a 
trice is on board. The boat is cast off, the huge engines turn, we are 
again on our way, but a new feeling pervades the vessel. We have, 



ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK. 



although four hundred miles and more away from land, grasped hands 
with the American Continent. As evening comes on we run into fog 
and rain. But indoors we are having "high jinks," for the young 
people have got up an entertainment, and music, singing, and recita- 
tions, in which our good captain joins, are carried on until a late hour. 



III. ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK. 



OTHING could be more delightful than the fresh morning, the 
last of our voyage, on which we approached Sandy Hook. For 
several hours everybody was on the look-out upon deck with happy 
faces ; towards evening, as we looked upon the wood-crowned heights of 
New Jersey, a deep crimson overspread the sky, and the sun went down 
in unwonted splendour. Slowly we steamed by the great forts, which 
guard the entrance at the " narrows," to the inner bay of New York, 
now fringed with many lights. The bay of New York is large and 
beautiful, capable of harbouring the fleets of the world. Shortly after 
six o'clock we dropped anchor, not being allowed to pass the 
quarantine ground after sundown, as the Americans say. It was a 
lovely scene — the glow of the setting sun had not faded before the 
moon rose over Brooklyn, the numerous ships hung out their lights, 
and the encircling shore sparkled like an illumination. 

It is difficult to describe our feelings at a time of excitement such 
as is experienced upon reaching port after a voyage — people are all 
happy, and are not afraid to show it. My American friends, especially 
the ladies, were eager to know of course how I liked their country — at 
first sight — before I had set foot upon it, and I could answer readily 
and with truth, that the first near look at the continent made me 
realise vividly that I was entering a New World. 

It was late that night before the company could settle down to rest, 
and it certainly seemed hard that after crossing the Atlantic and touch- 
ing the shore as it were, we must be kept from landing until to-morrow. 
Such, however, is Custom House fate. It was a moving sight next 



10 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

morning as we neared the dock side, to see the crowd of friends look- 
ing out for those who had been across the sea, and the respective 
recognitions as face caught sight of face from ship to shore. Generally 
we see more rejoicing however than sadness, for here parents meet 
children, brothers their sisters, husbands their wives ; " there is dear 
grandmother," says one little fellow ; "here is father," says another. 

At last we say farewell to the good ship Scythia, to her excellent 
captain, and to the friends who have been our companions during the 
voyage ; and set foot upon the continent of America. 

We are in New York, the greatest port of the United States, and one 
of the capitals of the world — comparatively a place of yesterday, and 
yet how vast a growth ! No place I have seen reminds me of Paris 
so much as New York. It is a mixture of English, Dutch, and French 
seaports, the French element predominating. Land having become 
valuable, the buildings stretch towards heaven. We went to the top 
of one of these high towers— the Equitable Life Offices in Broadway — 
whence there is a bird's-eye view of New York, New Jersey, Brooklyn, 
the Hudson and East rivers, the wooded country inland, and the bay, 
with Staten Island and the Atlantic beyond. It is a wonderfully 
beautiful sight. 

I am not going to undertake a description of New York, but I must 
mention a few points which to me were striking. For instance, nothing 
in my experience can be worse than the paving of the streets of this 
o-reat city. It is simply execrable, and renders quick movement in a 
carriage impossible. But to some extent there is compensation in the 
net work of trams which are everywhere. There is also the elevated 
railway, which runs above the sidewalks ; and there are the stages, 
as they call the shabby London omnibuses. The names over shop 
doors are curious and new ; few old English names, many German, 
some Dutch, and numerous Jewish. 

The Post-office is an admirable institution, and I could not help feel- 
ino- strongly how slow we are at home to take new ways, and how 
readily an American adopts the best method. For instance, in the 
sorting of letters and in the matter of private boxes for firms at the 
Post-office. Here each firm or individual has a small box, the inside 
of which he can see. In case there are letters for him he unlocks the 



ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK. 11 

box and takes them. There are many thousands of these boxes. With 
us in " practical" Manchester we have our boxes into which are sorted 
the letters of our firms, but a staff of clerks has to be kept to hand out 
the letters, taking up time and space unnecessarily. 

Central Park is a grand lung to New York, containing 1,500 acres, 
laid out on the English landscape style, and is a pleasure ground for 
rich and poor, who resort to it in thousands. Dotted over the city are 
many squares, called parks, and on the side walks of numerous streets 
are planted trees. 

Theatres abound. We went to the opera-house, and saw our 
country woman Ada Cavendish in a play called The Soul of an Actress, 
which made one wonder that a woman with genius should spend her 
strength on such poor stuff. The audience was large and such as 
would certainly not be seen in any theatre in England, probably not 
in any theatre in Europe. There were no " gods," but the whole 
house was occupied by respectably-dressed, well-mannered people. 
We were played out as one is after service at church by the orchestra, 
a novel and pleasing feature. I afterwards looked in for an hour at a 
music saloon — large, well filled, elegantly decorated, lighted with the 
electric light, first-class music well given, and perfectly respectable. 
Afterwards we had an oyster supper at a crowded place in Broadway ; 
the same good conduct and respectable people everywhere. Such 
places in our own country would all have in them a leaven of loud 
vulgarity and snobbishness to say the least. Here at all events demo- 
cracy vindicates itself. There is, I admit, at least visible, less of what 
we should call high culture, but, on the other hand, there is a vastly 
greater number of instructed and happy people. Such were my feel- 
ings on this night, and subsequent similar experiences have confirmed 
my early impressions. In the streets, in the horse-cars, in the railways, 
at the theatres, at church, in all places where people meet together, 
there is a more serious air than is found in similar gatherings at home. 
I have just returned from a visit to Coney Island, Manhattan Beach ; 
a new seaside watering place, about an hour distant by ferry and rail 
from New York. It is a series of stupendous hotels upon the seashore, 
beginning at one end with a select sort of Fifth Avenue style of place 
and graded down to most popular requirements. You may walk several 



12 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

miles along the beach, and a very large portion of the sea terrace is 
laid down in grassy turf, richly ornamented with beds of flowers. To 
Manchester people, Belle Vue will give some idea of what preparations 
are necessary for feeding a large crowd, but Belle Vue never had two 
hundred thousand visitors in one day as was the case here, 4th July, 
1S80. Forty thousand people could not get back, and had to remain 
out encamped as well as they could for the whole summer night. All 
manner of amusements are provided, and there are extraordinary 
facilities for feeding these summer crowds. But the grand charm of 
the place, beyond the fine music morning and afternoon, is the long 
line of shore, upon which the rollers of the Atlantic beat and break. 




IV. NEW ENGLAND. 



LEFT New York one afternoon at five o'clock for Providence, 
Rhode Island, in a steamer which I believe surpasses all of its 
kind. There are only two others on American waters comparable to the 
Massachusetts; one being her sister boat, the other one of the Hudson 
river boats to Albany. Her engines are of 2,800-horse power. There is 
accommodation on board for 500 people ; to-night we are taking over 
300. Each stateroom, as it is called, is conveniently furnished, pro- 
vided with a comfortable bed or beds, and is lighted with gas. The 
dining-room and saloons are spacious, richly decorated and appointed, 
and lighted with the electric light. It is the most luxurious travelling 
in the world. I dined at the captain's table ; the bill of fare was 
choice but not elaborate, there were only fourteen kinds of vegetable, 
and the wine the best I drank in the States. These boats are much 
used. I was introduced to one gentleman who had been going 
between Providence and New York weekly for years, and he had not 
once slept in New York, but after finishing his business in the after- 
noon dined and slept on board the boat, awaking fresh for his work in 
good time the next morning. 

It was a lovely evening as we glided from our moorings in the 



NEW ENGLAND. 13 



Hudson River and threaded our way amidst the multitude of craft of 
every kind which crowd the waters of New York, and as we made our 
way along the East river and under the stupendous suspension bridge 
in construction which is to connect Brooklyn and New York, the setting 
sun lighted up the former city with unwonted splendour and threw 
New York into shadow and clear outline against the sky. No view of 
New York is more picturesque than this from East river by evening 
light. The ridge along the centre of the city upon which Broadway 
runs is crowned with lofty structures — spires, towers, warehouses, 
churches, and massive shapes in broken line — while the lower tiers of 
buildings in deeper shadow decline to the water's edge and mingle 
with the multitude of masts which stand out boldly in the foreground. 
It is a subject worthy of a great artist. By-and-by we are steaming 
past Blackwell's Island, upon which are situated the penal and cor- 
rectional institutions of New York, as well as those for lunatics and 
paupers. For these are all needed, alas, even in the New World. 
Before dusk we are feeling our way carefully through Hell Gate, a 
narrow and dangerous shoal, the passage to the sound, where the 
United States Government have expended large sums, and are still at 
work, in blasting the hidden rocks to clear a passage and make the 
way safer. As evening falls the lights to mark our way appear, and by 
seven o'clock or so we are in the open waters of Long Island Sound. 
As on many nights past, when I retired to rest the full-orbed moon 
had sailed high into the dark blue heavens, encircled by a multitude 
of stars. The gentle motion of our boat rocked me, as in a cradle, to 
a refreshing sleep, from which I was awakened only by the stopping 
of our engine, as we touched the quay side of Providence, Rhode 
Island. 

. When I opened my cabin window, a rich orange glow in the eastern 
sky preluded the rising sun, forming a wonderful background to the 
picturesque outline of the city, built along a ridge and sloping to the 
bay. My friend living some twelve or fifteen miles away, we went, at 
6-45, to the railway station (depot they call it), where we got a comfort- 
able breakfast. This is a feature not known to us. Early rising is 
common all over the States, as far as I went. The older portion of 
Providence is east of the bay, and here is the old State House, con- 



14 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

taining a good library and many portraits of governors of the State ; 
also the original charter, granted in the seventeenth century. There 
are many fine residences on this side, a church with a beautiful tall 
tower and spire of wood, and what was in older days the main street. 
Now, however, the leading street is on the western side, on which the 
city has grown and is growing. Westminster is a most picturesque 
street, reminding me of the High Street in Oxford. On the west side 
also stands the City Hall, a handsome building near the railway 
station, and the Butler Exchange, a modern fine example of enterprise 
and taste in commercial building. After our drive round the town, 
accompanied by my American friend, I took train to the Athens of 
America. 

Boston, to Englishmen, is probably the most interesting American 
city. Partly, no doubt, because of its associations historically and for 
its own beauty, but mainly because of the intellectual culture of its 
citizens, which has placed it in the van of civilization in the United 
States. One of the most beautiful general views of Boston is from the 
north-west side, on the way to Cambridge. The town clusters together 
upon three hills, but seen from a distance there appear to be terraces 
of building rising from the water to the crown of what seems one ridge, 
which is broken by church spires, by chimneys, by towers, by the shaft 
on Bunker Hill, and nearer the centre by the great gilt dome of the 
State House, which stands out like a vast gold crown. From South 
Boston, the reverse of this view is seen, with a finer foreground of 
water and shipping. Unlike other cities of the States, the streets run 
irregularly, as in English towns, except the long lines which stretch 
out into the suburbs. Much of the old town in the business quarters 
was burnt down in 1874, and has been rebuilt in a style unsurpassed by 
any city in the world. We have some elegant warehouses in Man- 
chester, and there are not a few in various cities in the provinces 
which are admirable, as well as in London ; but I have no hesitation 
in saying that the magnificent white and variegated marble and granite 
palaces erected in Boston for business and State purposes are grander 
than any we have in Great Britain, and rival those of the most illus- 
trious cities of Italy. 

The marble structures of Boston are simply wonderful. I was taken 



NEW ENGLAND. 15 



on to the towers of one of these lofty buildings, the Mutual Insurance 
Offices I think, and saw the city like a map at our feet, the Charles 
river, the Common, and the Park, the distant hills, the harbour and 
bay, and the glistening far-off sea. My Boston friends may well be 
proud of their city. Boston Common is a grand open of about fifty 
acres in this bustling centre. And I think it never lcoked finer than 
when I saw those majestic elms and oaks, which are the glory of the 
place, transfigured by radiant autumnal colour. In the streets, too, 
are glorious old trees. From the window of the hotel, as I dined or 
made notes on the passing stream of human life, I looked upon 
a grand old tree in the space before one of the public offices. It 
may possibly interest some of my friends to learn what an American 
hotel is like. When you arrive, you walk up to the counter of the 
office in the hall and enter your name and address. You have 
a room allotted to you, your baggage is taken up by a lift, you 
are taken up by another. Lifts are almost in universal use. You 
are charged so many dollars a day, say from two and a half dollars 
to five dollars, according to the style of room. This includes all 
your eating. There is very little drinking in any hotel I was in during 
my visit. I was never asked by a waiter, during my stay, what I would 
take to drink, nor shown a wine list unless I asked for one. This is 
common sense. Can any traveller for a month in England say this ? 

Breakfast is generally served from seven to nine ; railway breakfasts 
earlier. Lunch, one to three ; dinner, five to seven ; supper, nine to 
eleven o'clock. As a waiter said to me in New York, " You may begin 
to eat here, sir, at five o'clock in a morning, and go on until midnight !" 
In the hall there is usually a cigar and tobacco stall, a newspaper boy, 
ticket offices for theatres and railways, and a reading and writing room. 
In the larger hotels the dining-rooms are upstairs. In the basement 
you find barbers, shoeblacks, and various conveniences. You pay ten 
cents each morning for having your shoes " shined." There are no 
tips. Englishmen, however, do tip ; ancient habits are hard to over- 
come. There is so much to be said on the subject of hotel feeding in 
the States that I will leave it for fuller treatment in a subsequent letter. 

The number of people who are housed in these hotels is very large, 
varying in the first-class houses from 200 or 300 to 800 or 1,000. In the 



16 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

season at Saratoga 1,500 and 1,800 can be put up at each of the largest 
houses. The principal hotel at Richmond, Virginia, can take in 800. 
I suppose the Parker House, at which I stayed at Boston, could accom- 
modate several hundred people ; it is usually full, and is said to be a 
prosperous concern. 

No building in Boston excites more interest in admirers of America 
than Faneuil Hall, " the cradle of liberty," which stands in the centre 
of the business quarter of the city, a plain, solid, almost square block. 
Here the citizens met in the early days of the struggle for independence, 
and here, in later and equally stirring times, the cause of the slave has 
been eloquently pleaded. It was for a speech in Faneuil Hall against 
kidnapping, that Theodore Parker was tried at Boston in 1855. And 
twenty years before, the walls of Faneuil Hall had echoed to a famous 
orator of Boston on behalf of slavery and slaveholders, the Hon. Peleg 
Sprague, who proclaimed a new gospel, " Slaves, obey your masters ! " 
At that very time the State of Georgia was offering 5,000 dollars for 
the head of William Lloyd Garrison ! It seems incredible that so great 
a change can have been worked out in so short a time as twenty-five 
years. Thank God ! the bondsman has been made free, and the reign 
of cruelty is at an end. With John Bright, " I believe there was no 
mode short of a miracle more stupendous than any recorded in Holy 
Writ that could in our time have brought about the abolition of slavery 
in America, but the suicide which the South committed and the war 
which it began." 



V. NEW ENGLAND. 

NE of the most delightful incidents of my too brief stay in New 
England was a visit to Longfellow, who lives on the way to Mount 
Auburn, a short distance beyond Cambridge. It was a lovely morning ; 
the magnificent forest trees around Harvard University and along the 
road were rich in many-coloured foliage, the glory of New England 
during the Indian summer. The poet's house stands in its own grounds, 



NEW ENGLAND. 17 



a little way from the road, and is embosomed in trees, with a pleasant 
lawn-like greenery before it. As he has written : — 
" Somewhat back from the village street, 

Stands the old-fashioned country seat ; 

Across its antique portico 

Tall poplar trees their shadows throw." 

It was the head-quarters of General Washington during the siege of 

Boston. A view of distant hills is seen from the grounds, looking 

south. At the garden gate we were met by Mr. Longfellow, who led 

us back to the house and into his library. I noticed a fine portrait of 

Emerson when young, as well as one of the Poet himself of similar 

date ; also a statuette of Goethe. The room was just what one might 

have pictured — not large, but cosy and well filled with books, with a 

comfortable, plain writing table, and the arm-chair made from the 

wood of the village blacksmith's chestnut tree, presented to Longfellow 

on his seventy-second birthday, 27th February, 1879, by the children 

of Cambridge. There, too, was the old clock on the stairs, of which he 

has sung : — 

" Half-way up the stairs it stands, 

And points and beckons with its hands, 

From its case of massive oak. 

And from its station in the hall, 

The ancient timepiece says to all, 

For ever — never ! Never — for ever ! " 

One of our party, an American, read aloud the poem " Jugurtha," from 

the volume Ultima T/ucle, then just published in Boston, copies of 

which were on the table. 

I told the poet how much I felt myself indebted to him for many, 

many happy hours ; how his writings had often comforted me in 

sorrow and amidst the worry and distraction of daily work ; and that 

in my home, as I believed in tens of thousands of homes in the Old 

Country, was realized his wish when he wrote — 

' ' Therefore I hope, as no unwelcome guest 

At your warm fireside, when the lamps are lighted, 

To have my place reserved among the rest, 

Nor stand as one unsought and uninvited." 

I had long looked forward to a visit to Concord and to Cambridge, 

2 



18 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

and I felt when the Poet took my hand to bid me farewell, that my 
voyage across the Atlantic had not been in vain — 

" For they shall be accounted Poet-Kings 
Who simply tell us most heart-easing things ! " 

I left Boston with deep regret. There were so many friends unseen, 
so much of interest, of instruction, and of pleasure .had to be post- 
poned until my next visit. Here, as I found afterwards everywhere, 
my American friends were all kindness and hospitality — with a love 
for the Old Country like our own. 

I spent my first Sunday in the States at a charming quiet seaside 
place called Warren-neck, to which I was driven about a dozen miles 
from a considerable group of manufacturing villages, in the Pawtucket 
Valley. At Harrisville, where my friend lives, I had opportunity for 
observing how much more comfortably placed are those engaged in the 
cotton manufacture than those so occupied at home, especially in our 
large towns. There each man has a detached dwelling, with a small 
plot of ground. Many of the houses are the property of the occupiers. 
The hours of labour are longer than with us, but the workers are by no 
means less intelligent, and are strong and healthy, for they live in a 
purer air and in a more tranquil moral atmosphere. The schoolhouse 
has not been planted for generations in New England in vain. 

Warren-neck is a strip of rocky coast stretching from the mainland 
into an arm of Long Island Sound, and in the season is a place of 
daily resort for many thousands from Providence, and other towns, 
who have a shore dinner of clam chowder, for the cooking of which 
great preparations are made. It is a kind of mixture like mussels 
and cockles stewed with vegetables, and is capital eating. The use 
of the telephone is much more general on the other side than with us. 
At dinner we drank the health of a young lady friend who lived some 
twenty miles away, and whilst our hostess remained at the instrument 
a minute or two an answer came thanking us for our remembrance 
of her. So, on my arrival in Providence, a day or two before, I had 
been welcomed by my friend's wife, who was at breakfast, fourteen 
miles away. 

On Monday the steamer from Providence to Newport touched at 
Warren-neck, taking us on board. An hour's sail landed us at the 



NEW ENGLAND. 19 



most celebrated seaside resort in the States. Newport is without 
doubt a charming place. The walk along the rocks overlooking 
the sea, with fine villa residences near, and a grand greensward, 
such as we have in England, reaching a few miles, makes a most 
loveable spot, where one could readily forget much of this world's 
worries and cares, but for the excessive display which disports itself. 
The same enterprise which has worked wonders in steamboats and 
railways across the continent has made the barren rocky side of 
Newport one of the most delightful walks in the world. But to be 
a Newporter properly one must have, I should say, not less than 
;£ 10,000 a year. The town of Newport is old. There is a newspaper 
here, which was established by Benjamin Franklin. The main street, 
and much of the rocky character of the place, reminded me of 
Ilfracombe, North Devon. 

In the evening we returned to Warren-neck, and then drove across 
country to my friend's house at Harrisville, about twelve miles inland. 
On various parts of the drive we passed coloured squatters' little 
places, as well as large farms, well cultivated. Passed numerous 
orchards, too, where the trees were literally crushed down beneath 
the weight of ripened fruit. It is a great apple year. A lady friend 
told me that apples had been selling at the orchards at three cents 
a bushel. Two generations ago the Red Indian was here, but the 
white man has pushed him back westward, and is fast civilising him 
with spirits and other things off the face of the earth. 

I took the cars (as they call a train) one morning at Providence, 
and set off on my own account. Hitherto I had been taken in hand 
by my excellent friend Governor Howard, of Providence, R.I., whom 
I was to rejoin in a day or two. A couple of hours brought me to 
Worcester, a genuine Puritan old city, peopled by some of the old 
Plymouth Rock stock. Never have I seen more magnificent trees 
than those on each side of the principal street. They reminded 
me of the trees at Oxford on the Broad Walk. The place was all 
alive, like market-day in one qf our Midland Counties market towns, 
and had a solid, substantial, respectable air. But the foliage which 
pervades the city gives it a character of its own, and is more 
suggestive of Germany and France than our own country. The 



20 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

people are, however, more English-looking than any I have seen. 
The streets are wide, with fine shops and warehouses. Here, as 
elsewhere, is a soldiers' monument, and recalls the memory of those 
whose deeds their fellow-citizens would not willingly let die. 

After the manner of Americans who " do " England in about three 
days, I was obliged to push on, reaching the fine railway depot just 
in time for one of the fast Boston to Albany and New York trains. 
Fruit is plentiful at the railway station, and I lay in a stock of 
apples, pears, grapes, and peaches for fifty cents. This is a populous 
district, and the cars are well filled with intelligent, well-dressed, 
comfortable, but apparently serious people. Six or seven long 
American cars, through which you can walk, make our train, the seats 
arranged for two run down each side the car, with a central aisle. 
Nearly all are filled. We run through undulating, well-wooded 
country, glowing with warm colour. The most brilliant crimsons 
and scarlets and every conceivable shade of yellow and brown and 
green are painted on the thick woods, and with a foreground of dark 
soil or verdant meadow, make a picture no man has dared to paint 
and none have ventured fully to describe. This is the land of colour 
at this autumn season. I saw a lady with the bough of a tree as large 
as she could carry — every leaf bright yellow, but tinted round the 
edges brilliant carmine. It was a mass of beauty, and drew attention 
even in that locality. I begged a few leaves as a memento : they are 
still beautiful, although, like pearly shells we gather on the shore, they 
suffer from absence of sunlight. 

" Springfield !" calls the conductor. They call out after leaving each 
station what the next will be, so as to give travellers time to prepare 
for leaving. Another busy, thriving city, with main street, by name 
and in reality, running north and south. Here is the United States 
arsenal and gun factory, where large quantities of warlike material can 
be produced. Before the slaveholders' revolt, and during the last 
months of the Buchanan administration, immense loads of arms and 
ammunition were moved away from Springfield to Southern cities, to 
the astonishment and consternation of its peaceful, Union-loving 
citizens. There are also large watch manufactories here. Trees give 
picturesqueness to the streets as well as shade from the hot sun of 



NEW ENGLAND. 21 



summer. Within the distance of an hour's drive I had a view from 
high land overlooking the Connecticut valley, and a more magnificent 
prospect I had not seen in the country. Far away as the eye could 
trace flowed the river in each direction, north and south, and when the 
faint shimmer of the water was no more seen, the distant forest- clad 
mountains seemed to rest against the soft grey sky of evening. 

It was to a visit to Springfield that I had for many years looked 
forward, for here had lived my friend Samuel Bowles, well known all 
over the States, and loved wherever known. In the great battle of life 
he had fought hard and nobly in support of those principles of justice 
and freedom, without which the United States would have become 
like a rope of sand. The strain laid upon that refined and highly-strung 
organization was too severe, and he passed away, alas ! too soon. I 
had felt that America could not be quite the same to me without my 
friend. And it was with a heart tremulous with emotion that I entered 
the place which knew him no more. There I found those my friend had 
left behind, and around whom, for his sake, my affections had long grown ; 
with whom, after many greetings and much unconcealed sadness, I spent 
some happy hours, the memory of which will never pass away. 

The time here was, alas ! too short, and as night approached 
I was once more on the convenient iron way, which has so quickly 
brought all the world nearer together, and after four hours reached 
delightful New Haven, called for the best of reasons, the Elm City. 
Even Worcester, which I left this morning, so rich in trees, cannot vie 
with the magnificent avenues of ancient elms which encircle the college 
buildings of Yale, and lift their spreading arms across the city green. 
Then, outside this charming city, which looks upon the sea, are 
far stretching woods inland, through which we drive, and beyond 
these rise grand bluffs, called East and West Rocks, which made my 
heart leap as I saw them first from the railway carriage, reminding 
me of the banks of our own Wye in Monmouthshire. Ah ! I shall 
always treasure the memory of my drive under the elms of New Haven 
and through her brilliant woods, and under the shadow of her rough 
bold rocks. It was a happy termination to my brief visit to New 
England, the home of merry, loving, tender, affectionate, and culti- 
vated men and women, whom I am proud to call my friends. 



22 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 




VI. PHILADELPHIA. 



MONG the many novel and interesting sights in New York few 
took my fancy more'than the grand ferries, which ply con- 
tinually between Brooklyn and New York, and between New York and 
Jersey City. Over the Hudson river in this last-named ferry I started 
one fine morning on the way to Washington. The ferry is an immense 
floating pier, upon which passengers, carriages and horses, carts, drays, 
and in some cases complete trains of railway carriages, are taken 
bodily across the broad rivers. New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and 
Newark, being all within the distance of a few miles, there is always 
sufficient movement of population and its requirements on the rivers 
which girdle New York, to find constant work for these unique, 
leviathan craft. 

The Pennsylvania railroad service is one of the finest in the United 
States, and after leaving Jersey City we were carried along at a pace 
of forty miles an hour for considerable time, over country almost as flat 
as Lincolnshire. As we approach Philadelphia, the aspect of the country 
is more varied, and becomes picturesque. The Quaker City is built on 
the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, a few miles above their confluence, 
and about one hundred miles from the sea. The shipping on these 
rivers, anchored at the city wharves, especially on the Delaware, tell 
their own story of the commercial importance of Philadelphia. It is 
the chief outlet for the products of the state of Pennsylvania, rich in 
coal and iron. Marble too is here in abundance, one of the noted 
features of the city being the profusion of white marble used in build- 
ing. Every house in the principal streets has a flight of marble steps. 
The beautiful mansion of Mr. Childs, of the Philadelphia Ledger (like 
that of A. T. Stewart in New York), is built of pure white marble. 
The Girard College, perhaps the finest building in the country, is a 
magnificent Greek Temple in white marble. 

Philadelphia had a great attraction for me, but whether it was the 



PHILADELPHIA. 23 



genial hospitality of the people or the air of comfort, indeed refine- 
ment, pervading the place that most charmed, I am not able to deter- 
mine. The streets are somewhat narrower than in New York, but 
they are handsome, well-paved, and peopled with ' a well-dressed, 
unhasting crowd. It is also pleasant to find the streets named other- 
wise than numerically in an American city — 

"Arch and market, chestnut, vine, 
Walnut, Girard, spruce, and pine." 
Some such couplet was given me to indicate the leading streets. 
Along the main thoroughfares run horse tram-cars, and excellent 
carriages are on hire at call. The hotels here are most desirable 
resting-places. 

The centre of interest in Philadelphia was Independence Hall, a 
plain, brick building, with a picturesque tower surmounted by a belfry, 
in which formerly was hung the great city bell, having on it this 
inscription, " Liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants 
thereof." The Declaration of Independence was issued here on the 
4th July, 1776, and here, too, during the early years of its institution, 
the United States Congress assembled. Various relics of those past 
days are shown. The quiet quadrangle upon which this building 
looks is made beautiful by spreading trees and shady walks. 

Besides the various squares, which act as breathing spaces, Phila- 
delphia possesses the most magnificent public park probably in the 
world. Stretching along both banks of the Schuylkill river — in itself 
a source of delight to the eye, — the Fairmount Park embraces in its 
area of four thousand acres almost every variety of natural beauty, 
and contributes pleasure to thousands of people daily all the year 
round. Another sylvan opening is the park-like enclosure which 
surrounds that grand institution, Girard College, the extent and - 
magnificence of which may perhaps be suggested by the statement 
that the structure alone cost more than the sum left by Girard for the 
purpose, viz., two millions of dollars. The foundation stone was laid 
in July, 1833, and the main building was completed and transferred to 
the directors 13th November, 1847. The institution is sustained 
principally from the rental of real estate left by the founder, Stephen 
Girard. Two hundred orphans were admitted the first year, the 



24 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

second year another hundred were taken in, and at the present time 
about six hundred " poor white male orphans " find a home, and are 
"maintained and educated" there. " No uniform or distinctive dress 
is permitted to be worn." The boys may at stated times visit and be 
visited by their friends. When the time arrives many are indentured 
by the College to learn some trade or occupation. Professors, male 
and female teachers, doctors, a dentist, and a steward have charge of 
their respective departments, as well as a matron, prefects, and 
governesses for the household, the whole government of the College 
being vested in the president, who is the chief executive officer of 
the institution, and is responsible for its proper administration. 
Strangers, with a permit, are admitted any day between nine a.m. 
and sunset. The special feature in Girard's will is contained in 
the following clause : " I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, 
missionary, or minister of any sect whatsoever, shall ever hold or 
exercise any station or duty whatever in the said College ; nor shall 
any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, 
within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said College. 
In making this restriction, I do not mean to cast any reflection upon 
any sect or person whatsoever ; but as there is such a multitude of 
sects, and such a diversity of opinion amongst them, I desire to keep 
the tender minds of the orphans, who are to derive advantage from 
this bequest, free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and 
sectarian controversy are so apt to produce ; my desire is, that all the 
instructors and teachers in the College shall take pains to instil into 
the minds of the scholars the purest principles of morality, so that on 
their entrance into active life they may, from inclination and habit, 
evince benevolence towards their fellow-creatures, and a love of truth, 
sobriety, and industry, adopting at the same time such religious tenets 
as their matured reason may enable ttiem to prefer." 

Stephen Girard was a native of Bordeaux, where he was born in 
1750. He was a seafaring man, and afterwards a merchant and 
banker, and was entirely what is called "self-made." He died in 
1831 at Philadelphia, of which place he had been a citizen about fifty 
years. He left at his death property valued at about seven and a 
half millions of dollars, the bulk of which he devised for public and 



WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND. 25 

benevolent purposes. I have dwelt upon Stephen Girard and the 
college he founded at considerable length, because of the impression 
made upon me by the man and his work, which is so prominently 
before the world in his adopted city. He was evidently a man of 
uncommon energy — that he had read history with care is clear from 
the peculiar conditions of his great bequest— and he had strong 
convictions and lofty purposes, along with a force of will capable of 
carrying them into effect, notwithstanding the prejudices by which he 
was surrounded. How many poor children in Manchester would the 
Hulme bequest have educated, had it been administered under such 
conditions as those of Girard's ? 

In July 1793, and in 1797 and '98 yellow fever visited Philadelphia 
and swept thousands into the grave. On the first visitation, in three 
months more than four thousand people perished out of a population 
of under 25,000. In this time of terror and confusion Girard volun- 
teered his services to superintend the fever hospital, and by his 
self-devotion worked wonders in staying the pestilence and in devising 
preventive measures. The Apostle James tells us that " pure religion 
and undented before God and the Father is this — to visit the fatherless 
and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the 
world." 



VII. WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND. 



EAVING Philadelphia as evening approached, I saw little in the 
country we were carried through to excite attention, except at 
Havre de Grace, where the wide, tumultuous, rock-bound Susquehanna 
river falls into Chesapeake Bay, along which, with frequent glimpses 
seaward, we travel towards Baltimore. 

Baltimore is a large busy city, with considerable manufactures, and 
a magnificent harbour, peopled with a crowd of shipping. Coal in 
vast quantities is sent down to this port for shipment. The absence 
of trees in the streets is striking, and the general appearance of this 
city is plainer than those I have recently visited. We went to the 



26 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

theatre— Ford's Grand Opera House — and saw a musical absurdity, 
which pleased the audience. There was some special local gathering, 
and the large hotel at which we stayed was full, which gave me an 
opportunity of judging from large numbers indoors, as well as from my 
observations in the theatre and in the streets, and the impression I 
received was that the people were what I may describe as a "louder" 
toned type than any I had before seen in the States. There was also 
a somewhat excited state of public feeling, consequent on preparations 
for the celebration of the 150th year of the foundation of the city. The 
" sesquicentennial" was to occupy about ten days, when holiday 
demonstrations of every conceivable kind would be made. It was 
here that I made acquaintance with mosquito curtains, and had 
shutters to my bedroom windows to keep out the sunlight, I suppose, 
and I began to have a feeling that I was getting South. I could not 
forget that here, in the first days of the rebellion, a Massachusetts 
regiment, in passing through, was fired upon and mobbed. 

There was not a cloud in the sky as we passed out of the suburbs of 
Baltimore into the open country. The train was well filled, and I soon 
found myself engaged in conversation with a well-known ex-Con- 
federate General. He frankly accepted the results of the Civil War to 
have been the destruction of slavery and the consolidation of the 
Union, and that secession had brought nothing but misfortune and 
ruin to all engaged. He spoke as one who believed that the people in 
the South were so convinced, and I asked him whether there were any 
Southern cities in which a statue to Abraham Lincoln had been 
erected, as I had scarcely been in any city since my arrival in which 
there was not one. "Yes," he said, " in New Orleans, I believe." " I 
hope," said I, " the time will come when many others will follow the 
example of the Crescent City." I was thus engaged when my friend 
drew me to the window of the carriage and I saw, afar off, but beauti- 
fully distinct in the morning light, the white marble dome of the 
Capitol at Washington. It was a moment of supreme pleasure, such 
as the Catholic pilgrim may feel as he first comes in sight of St. Peter's 
at Rome, or the Alpine climber who sees Mont Blanc from Geneva. 

The entrance into Washington by the Baltimore and Ohio railway 
is disappointing. Small, mean houses and other buildings surround 






WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND. 27 

you, and on one side almost invade the precincts of the Capitol, which 
rises grandly above all other objects. I have never seen magnificence 
and meanness so inappropriately near. No doubt, as time goes on, all 
this will be changed, and the land now owned by individuals will be 
purchased by the State, or private enterprise will exert itself, so that 
fitting adjuncts may entirely surround this grandest legislative palace. 
The scale on which the city has been laid out will require fifty years 
for its harmonious development, and it takes a day or so for your eye 
to become reconciled to the anomalies. But standing on the marble 
terrace in front of the Capitol, which stands on the highest ground in 
the city, you look on all sides upon broad avenues and " magnificent 
distances." Right in front, about a mile distant, is the Treasury, like 
a Greek temple. Beyond it are the other public offices, a vast pile of 
marble ; and beyond these again crowds of forest trees, painted with 
autumn tints, half hide the White House, the official residence of the 
President of the United States. On the bank of the Potomac is 
the immense Washington monument, that promises, like Cologne 
Cathedral, to take ages to complete. 

There are about six hundred women clerks employed in the Treasury, 
chiefly in the bank-note (greenback) department. In the United 
States no bank or banker is allowed to issue notes without depositing 
Government bonds as security for the amount of issue, plus ten per 
cent, margin ; and all these bonds are kept at the Treasury. Here 
new notes are issued and a large stock of gold is kept. The revenue 
flows in here, and amounted when we were in Washington to a million 
dollars daily, or at the rate of seventy-six million pounds sterling a 
year. 

It was a very agreeable experience upon walking into the Rigg's 
House at Washington to meet my old friends of the railway world, 
from Manchester. These gentlemen had been all over the Continent 
learning what they could from our American cousins for the benefit 
of English railway interests generally, and no doubt the Manchester, 
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire particularly. 

I am not going to try even to describe the city of Washington, it has 
been often done, and better done than is possible by my vagrant pen. 
We went to the theatre, of course, took the usual drives, called upon 



28 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

the British Ambassador to pay our respects, and were glad to find 
that the representative of Great Britain at Washington was housed in 
a style befitting old England. It may be proper here to state that in 
my frequent conversations with Americans upon the question of 
Ireland I never found one man or woman who had the slightest 
sympathy with Parnell and the anti-rent agitation in Ireland. The 
American people have too much common sense to be taken in by 
bravado and tall-talk. They, too, have their own Irish question, 
which is not a trifling difficulty in the great cities. In fact, it is quite 
a large enough element to make the successful and permanent working 
of democratic institutions still a problem of somewhat doubtful 
solution. 

One of the most enjoyable excursions taken from Washington is a 
visit to Mount Vernon, where Washington lived and died. The road 
along the Potomac is more than interesting — it would be beautiful 
without a single historical association. There, close behind you, as 
the steamer glides from her moorings, is the famous long bridge which 
connects Virginia and Columbia, and across which the panic-stricken 
hosts fled in confusion after the stampede at Bull's Run. Beyond, the 
still more famous wood-crowned Arlington Heights, the residence of 
the Confederate General Lee, whose genius gave a living impulse to 
the heterogeneous crowd, and lifted it to the rank of a great army. 
We are a mixed company on board the steamer, black and white and 
half-breed, all going to the tomb of Washington. Mount Vernon is 
situated on a lovely reach of the Potomac, about a dozen miles from 
the city of Washington. In the grounds are several small towers, or 
they may be called forts, built as outposts to be used in case of attack 
from Indians in the old days. The farm buildings are extensive, and 
there is a quaint piece of well-trimmed Dutch garden. Although the 
mansion is not a large one, according to present fashions, it is roomy 
and comfortable, and from the tower is seen a magnificent view of the 
park which clusters round, of the wide and winding Potomac, Fort 
Washington on the opposite bank, and of the white dome of the 
distant Capitol glistening in the sunlight. In almost every room is 
furniture which was there when Washington was alive. Portraits, 
pictures, furniture, the bedroom in which he passed away, and in which 



WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND. 29 

is framed a copy of a newspaper of the time, containing an announce- 
ment of the great man's death side by side with an advertisement of a 
runaway slave girl ; — everything in the house is preserved with the 
utmost care. The property was bought some years ago with funds 
raised by a ladies' committee, and the various rooms and their con- 
tents, as I understood, named after the various States subscribing. 

A most outrageous offence against good taste has, however, been 
perpetrated by those who have dared to remove the remains of 
Washington from the place in which he was laid, and which was most 
likely the spot of ground of his own choice, overlooking his favourite 
Potomac river. The old tomb is still there, left open and unprotected 
from the desecrating touch and soil of vulgar feet. And the dust of 
Washington, whose very name is a fragrance in all lands, has been 
placed with others of his kindred in a rude common brick hut, beside 
the carriage drive, near to the entrance of the grounds. The Americans 
have little sentiment and no imagination, or their reverence for the 
past would have prevented this desecration of the last resting-place of 
their most illustrious dead. An American friend, who visited Mount 
Vernon for the first time along with our party, and who shared my 
indignation, vowed that he would move his own State to obtain 
permission and to provide funds necessary for rescuing the ancient 
tomb from ruin. 

We returned in the afternoon to Washington, which grows upon us 
every day. Time is requisite to take, in these far-stretching, spacious 
avenues, and the colossal buildings of the State. In the evening we 
took the cars southward, and as the night wore on the coloured people, 
who were numerous in the carriage we sat in, began singing, in a 
plaintive, somewhat monotonous tone, but sweet and soothing. Only 
one line stuck to my memory, but that was many times repeated, and 
was very penetrating. " Shall we meet across the river ?" was this 
melancholy refrain, and this indicates, so to speak, the moral tone of 
the music. With night we entered the city, and, what is not uncommon 
there, although unknown with us, the rails are carried along the streets 
at level crossings ; and so, gliding slowly through gas-lighted streets, 
we found ourselves in the city of Richmond, Virginia. The Exchange 
and Ballard House, Richmond, is a typical hotel, accommodating 



30 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

about eight hundred guests ; there were several hundreds on our 
arrival. Richmond is situated on high and undulating ground over- 
looking the river James, which flows on the south side. It is a much 
finer site than that Washington is built upon, and probably there is no 
more beautiful situation for a city in the States. The State House, as 
usual, is a prominent object, a plain, solid, large building surrounded 
by a park, in which many squirrels disport themselves around the 
fountains quite tame, so as to feed from the hand. From the tower of 
the State House one has a bird's-eye view of the city, with a wide- 
spread expanse of country, hilly and wooded ; beyond, to the left, five 
miles or so away, is the point at which M'Clellan got hold of and stuck 
to Lee for six days, each army fighting and holding on to the other until 
exhausted, after making a fight of many miles along a line stretching 
east. Just below us as we stand on the roof is the church in which 
Jeff. Davis one Sunday morning received Lee's message from Peters- 
burg to retire from Richmond. Not far to the left is the Libby prison, 
where the Confederates packed their unhappy prisoners, and where 
the horrors of neglect and cruelty were rampant, starvation and death 
being here constant companions. Near the State House is the 
monument to General " Stonewall " Jackson, erected by subscriptions 
of English gentlemen ! Here, too, Jeff. Davis was tried for high 
treason, and when, at the close of the trial, the Judge announced that 
Davis was to enter into recognisances to appear when called upon for 
judgment in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, a man in the 
strangers' gallery stood up and called out, " Put me down for ten 
thousand dollars !" It was Horace Greely. His magnanimity completely 
overpowered the ex-President. We also visited the inner lines of 
defence and various points of view of the city. Commercially there 
must be stagnation here. One fact impressed me strongly — except in 
the main lines of thoroughfares where the tramcars run, I did not see 
one street that was not grass grown. 

The population here is about equally divided in numbers between 
white and coloured. On the Sunday morning I went, accompanied by 
one of my Manchester friends, to the Sunday-school and church of the 
First African Church, Richmond. There were, I suppose, about one 
hundred and fifty children in the school and some adults ; and at the 



HARPER'S FERRY : GETTYSBURG. 31 

Church, I should say, about four or five hundred were present. A 
young coloured man conducted the service. The people were intelli- 
gent and responsive, one could see by their faces, to the earnest exhor- 
tation which the preacher made. His text was, " Ye believe in God, 
believe also in me ; " and in simple language, clear and forcible, he 
urged his hearers to cast their burden upon the Lord and believe in 
Him : to do their duty manfully, to speak the truth, and to live with 
the fear of God before their eyes. Then he said, in all your trials and 
daily difficulties, you may without doubt cast your burden upon Him, 
and He will help you ; with much more to the same faithful purpose. 
The music — there was a choir — was simple and devotional, although 
somewhat drawling. There was an utter absence of noise and rant, 
and, as I told my friend the Rev. Brooke Herford afterwards in 
Chicago, from beginning to end the service was as orderly and devo- 
tional as in any cathedral in England. 




VIII. HARPER'S FERRY : GETTYSBURG. 



ARLY one fine morning I reluctantly said "Good-bye" to my 
friends at Washington, to which city I had returned from 
Richmond. Taking my seat in a train at the Baltimore and Ohio 
depot, I travelled through cultivated country and then along the bank 
of the Potomac river, which grew in picturesque beauty as we neared 
the object of my pilgrimage, Harper's Ferry. 

Harper's Ferry is a small, poor town, situated at the confluence of 
the Shenandoah river with the Potomac. Approached on the side 
nearest Washington, a steep, cone-shaped hill appears to divide the 
stream ; the town being built along the Potomac and Shenandoah 
valleys, and it also straggles up and over this dividing hilly ridge, which 
is called Bolivar Heights. The railroad crosses the Potomac here over 
an iron bridge of considerable size. On the north side of the river rise 
craggy hills, called Maryland Heights, and on the Virginia or south 



32 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

side of the noisy, shallow Shenandoah river tower the wood-crowned 
heights of Loudon. These lofty hills on each side of the rivers give a 
somewhat gorge-like character to the place as seen in the valley, whilst 
the view from the heights, looking south and east, is wide, far-reaching, 
and beautiful. 

It was here, in 1859, that John Brown and his score of devoted fol- 
lowers made their daring memorable raid. For many years John Brown 
was the most active agent of the so-called underground railway, of 
which he was the originator, and he aided many slaves to gain their 
freedom on British soil. His seizure of the Government arsenal 
at Harper's Ferry was a bold effort to rouse the slaves to strike for 
freedom, and may be considered the first skirmish of the great struggle 
then impending, which ended only when universal liberty was secured. 
It was a curious coincidence that the officer sent to give an account of 
the anti-slavery hero, and who took him prisoner in the engine house, 
now called John Brown's Fort, should have become the leading spirit 
of the army of the Confederacy, General Robert E. Lee. The life of 
John Brown and his execution in the State of Virginia called forth 
much comment by many eminent Americans. None knew him more 
intimately, nor aided him in his work with more cheerful liberality, than 
Theodore Parker, who in his last illness wrote from Rome : " No 
American has died this century whose chance of earthly immortality 
is worth half so much as John Brown's. The ex-governors of Massa- 
chusetts are half forgotten before they are wholly dead ; rhetoricians 
and sophists are remembered while they are talking ; but a man who 
crowns a noble life with such a glorious act as John Brown's at Harper's 
Ferry is not forgotten in haste. The red martyr must be a precious 
man. The effect is not over, nor ever will be. Brown's little spark 
was not put out till it had kindled a fire which will burn down much 
more than far-sighted men look for. The Northern sky is full of light- 
ning long treasured up ; Brown was one bright clear flash into the 
Southern ground. The thunder rattles all over the Union now ; there 
will be other strokes by-and-by." 

"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, 
But his soul is marching on ! " 

At Harper's Ferry, perhaps more than in any other place, is visible 



HARPER'S FERRY : GETTYSBURG. 33 

the ravages that terrible slaveholders' war made. In each valley were 
extensive national rifle manufactories, now in ruins. On the hill along 
which were dotted many houses, churches, and other buildings, are the 
shells of these structures, battered by cannon balls, and pitted all round 
the windows with rifle bullets. Here in 1862, the* Confederates under 
Stonewall Jackson, having taken possession of Maryland and Loudon 
Heights, captured General Miles and nearly 12,000 Federals, with 
72> guns, and numerous small-arms and large supplies of every kind. 
Two hundred and fifteen houses were destroyed, and the town simply 
beggared. I left this desolation in the midst of beautiful scenery in a 
melancholy mood, taking rail back again, alongside the Potomac a few 
miles, as far as Frederick city, Maryland. 

Frederick was a pleasant surprise ; it is a charming little town ; the 
usual grand old trees adorn the main streets of the place, and an air of 
cheerfulness and solid respectability pervades the people. More than 
once had the war rolled through these quiet streets. Whittier has re- 
lated an incident, which I will venture to quote, condensed : — 

" Up from the meadows rich with corn, 
Clear in the cool September morn, 
The clustered spires of Frederick stand, 
Green walled by the hills of Maryland. 
Round about them orchards sweep. 

Over the mountains, winding down, 

Came horse and foot through Frederick town. 

Forty flags with their silver stars, 

Forty flags with their crimson bars, 

Flapped in the morning wind ; the sun 

Of noon looked down, and saw not one. 

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, 

Bowed with her fourscore years and ten : 

Bravest of all in Frederick town, 

She took up the flag the men hauled down ; 

In her attic window the staff she set, 

To show that one heart was loyal yet. 

Up the street came the rebel tread, 

Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. 

Under his slouched hat left and right 

lie glanced ; the old flag met his sight. 



34 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

'Halt !' — the dust-brown ranks stood fast. 
'Fire !' — out blazed the rifle blast : 
It shivered the window, frame and sash ; 
It rent the banner with seam and gash. 
Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff 
Dame' Barbara snatched the silken scarf; 
She leaned far out on the window-sill, 
And shook it forth with a royal will : 
' Shoot, if you must, this old grey head, 
But spare your country's flag,' she said. 
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame. 
Over the face of the leader came ; 
The nobler nature within him stirred 
To life at that woman's deed and word : 
' Who touches a hair of yon grey head 
Dies like a dog ! March on !' he said. 
All day long through Frederick Street 
Sounded the tread of marching feet ; 
All day long that free flag tost 
Over the heads of the rebel host. 

Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, 

And the rebel rides on his raids no more. 

Honour to her ! and let a tear 

Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier." 

The house has been pulled down in which Dame Barbara lived, but 
the incident is remembered by some of the people to whom I spoke. 
Towards evening I again took the cars, and in rain and darkness reached 
Emmitsburg, an out-of-the-way small manufacturing town, within a 
couple of miles of the northern boundary of the State of Maryland. 
A lumbering old vehicle, which served as omnibus, met us at the 
railway station and brought us to a primitive hostelry. The coloured 
man who acted as conductor was also butler, waiter, in short factotum. 
We, that is a fellow-passenger and myself, along with the household, 
all supped together at a long table in a kind of general guests' room. 
The supper, which, in response to my fellow-traveller's inquiries, our 
coloured friend of the omnibus had dilated on in glowing terms, was 
very meagre, and I went despondingly to bed. It brought to my 
mind an old rambling roadside inn I had stopped at some thirty years 



HARPER'S FERRY : GETTYSBURG. 35 

before in an unfrequented part of Northamptonshire, where the people 
looked with suspicion and distrust upon all strangers. The next 
morning I took my place in the ordinary stage, a rude four-wheeled 
cart, drawn by a pair of horses, and was fortunate in having as my 
only fellow-passenger a pretty lass of about twenty, " the Maryland 
rose" as I playfully called her before we parted. The driver, who 
was also proprietor of the stage, was an intelligent man, full of 
anecdote, not slow to impart his knowledge of the country, and with a 
geniality in his grey eye which often brightened as the talk between 
my fair companion and himself warmed into smart repartee. There 
is a large convent at Emmitsburg, and many Roman Catholics. Our 
journey was soon over — only about twelve miles, along a broad 
country road, over which seventeen years ago divisions of the Federal 
army had inarched to oppose the Confederates, at that time making 
their great raid into Pennsylvania under Lee. 

The small town of Gettysburg nestles in the shadow of a ridge of 
hills of irregular contour and broken outline, and is the centre of a 
well-cultivated and rich agricultural district. But for the famous 
battle fought there the town would probably have remained for ever 
an obscure country place. Now it is visited by thousands of people 
and from all nations. You take a buggy and pair of horses in order 
to see over the battlefield, and I had the good fortune to have as 
driver and guide a man who was in Gettysburg during the fight, and 
who was over the ground frequently directly after the battles. The 
position of the Federals after they were driven through the town on 
the first day was one of great strength. The extreme right was at 
Culps Hill, a lump of ground, well wooded, like Alderley, though less 
steep. Next come Cemetery Hill and ridge, where there was much 
heavy fighting, then the centre, which occupied a lower level, yet still 
high ground, and well protected by strong stone breastworks, hastily 
thrown up ; whilst beyond, forming the extreme left of the position, 
are two hills, named respectively " Little Round Top " and " Round 
Top " proper. 

Draper has well compared the shape of the lines of the Union army 
to a fishhook, the barb being on their right at Culps Hill ; or it may 
be likened to a horsewhip, bent inwards at the lash end. The 



30 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

Federal army presented a front of more than three miles long. The 
Confederates, posted along Seminary ridge and well sheltered by 
thick woods, occupied a more extended line. The head-quarters of 
Lee were at the Seminary, a large building, giving a name to the 
ground, and occupying a position which commands a view of the 
whole field of battle. The Emmitsburg road, along which I drove 
into Gettysburg, runs along the valley between the positions held by 
the two armies. Mead's head-quarters, a wretched little farm, were 
behind the centre of his line. 

During the long days of the 2nd and 3rd July, 1863, these armies 
of 80,000 men each from the positions described poured death upon 
one another, making a mighty war cloud that veiled the summer sun. 
My guide told me that of the inhabitants who remained in the town, 
after the first day's fighting, when the Confederates occupied the 
place and requisitioned every morsel of food they could lay hands on, 
many were huddled together in the cellars, where they heard with 
terror the constant booming of cannon, the yells of the rebels, the 
cheers of the Federals, the rattle of musketry, and the crashing of 
shot and shells, which made a pandemonium of one of the fairest 
places upon earth. For, standing where the Federal batteries on 
Cemetery Hill were placed, the eye ranges over a vast expanse of 
undulating pastoral country, with blue mountains in the background — 
here and there windmill, tower, or village nestling amidst green and 
gold, at our feet the busy little town, and behind us the thickly- 
wooded crags. 

At Gettysburg the tide of war which for the second time had surged 
into the North was rolled back, never more to return. The losses on 
both sides were truly fearful. Out of 160,000 men engaged 8,000 were 
killed on the field, 36,000 wounded, many of which number afterwards 
died in hospital, and 1 5,000 were missing ; a total of 23,000 Federals 
and 36,000 Confederates. 

Here, on Cemetery Hill, the nation has placed a soldiers' memorial, 
and round about are the graves of three thousand six hundred of her 
bravest sons. There, are twelve hundred who belonged to New York 
State ; here, eight hundred from Pennsylvania— each State has its 
separate mound of sorrow. Still more sad, here, too, are the bodies of 



COLUMBIA, HARRISBURG, BUFFALO, & NIAGARA. 37 

eight hundred, unknown. Never have I experienced more sorrowful 
a time than that I passed at these soldiers' graves at Gettysburg. 
Here, too, upon the occasion of the dedication of this place to its 
solemn uses, in the presence of a sympathizing crowd of American 
citizens from all parts of the Union, were uttered those memorable 
words of Abraham Lincoln, which are now placed upon the marble 
monument, and which will be remembered to the latest days : " It is 
for us, the living, rather to dedicate ourselves to the unfinished work 
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced ; to 
consecrate ourselves to the great task remaining, and to gather from 
the graves of these honoured dead increased devotion to that cause 
for which they gave their lives. Here let us resolve that they shall 
not have died in vain ; that this nation shall, under God, have a new 
birth of freedom ; and that government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people shall not perish forever from the earth." 




IX. COLUMBIA, HARRISBURG, BUFFALO, 
AND NIAGARA. 

LEFT Gettysburg in a very sober frame of mind, taking the 
train for Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, by way of 
Columbia. The country generally through which we travelled was well 
cultivated, with a considerable population, evidently in a comfortable 
condition. Everybody seems to be prosperous. At Columbia the railway 
crosses the Susquehanna river by an iron bridge more than a mile in 
length. It is a busy, thriving place ; the streets at right angles, as usual ; 
there is a fine opera-house and numerous hotels. I had only half an 
hour in the place, and was recommended by the railway clerk to get 
a cup of tea at the restaurant close by, kept by one John Warren, 
a coloured man. It was excellent tea, nicely put before me, for 
five cents ! 

The railway from Columbia runs alongside the Susquehanna, the 



38 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

most picturesque river I had yet seen, wide and shallow, tumbling 
over its rocky bed and splashing its way to the far-off sea. Lofty 
wood-clad hills are on each side, now coloured with many hues and 
burnished with the glory of the setting sun. The cars are well filled, 
and at every station considerable numbers come in and go out. 
It is clearly a well-used, paying route. It seemed to me very like the 
Yorkshire or East Lancashire of America. 

At Harrisburg, where I arrived in time for a late dinner, there 
was a grand demonstration in progress by. the Republican party, 
and I had another opportunity of seeing a torchlight procession, 
of which our cousins appear to be very fond. Some of the uniforms 
of these torch-bearers are quite grotesque. But what struck me most 
was the seriousness, I might say earnestness, with which the whole 
procession business is carried on. The State House and grounds here 
are imposing, and, as in most of the older towns, the trees are a 
pleasing feature. There is here, too, a magnificent soldiers' monument — 
a simple colossal obelisk, placed in the centre of a square where four 
streets meet, the most impressive monument I had seen. 

I was stirring early the next morning, and caught the train at 4-30 
to Williamsport and Watkins Glen. One of the towns we passed 
about daylight, Milton, had been burnt down during the summer, and 
it was curious to see the sweep a fire makes in a town built mainly 
of wood. The streets are mapped out by the few charred outlines 
left near the ground, with now and then the outer shell of a large 
brick building standing alone. 

We continue to run alongside the beautiful Susquehanna, through 
Williamsport, where excellent fare awaits the hungry traveller, 
and comfortable time for his refreshment is also allowed him. The 
railways are clearly made for the convenience of travellers here, and 
not merely to give the minimum of comfort. It is quite true that the 
long distances to be got over in the States force the railway people 
to consider the requirements and conveniences of passengers more 
than with us in England ; there are various matters not absolutely 
necessary on our shorter journeys, but which, if provided, would save 
worlds of discomfort. Look at any large station — what a rush there 
is in certain directions after a run of an hour or two ! I do not mean 



WATKINS GLEN AND BUFFALO. 3U 

to say that in American railway cars there are no discomforts, for I 
have travelled sixteen or eighteen hours at a spell in a smoking 
carriage, and the occasional sweepings-out were not agreeable to 
witness. But even the vile habit of spitting is, I am informed, much 
less general than in earlier days. 

At Elmira I was joined by some American friends, at whose 
suggestion I visited Watkins Glen, in a picturesque part of the 
country, through which the Northern Central Railway runs on the 
way to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Watkins Glen is of the character 
of the gorge of Pfeffers, at Ragatz, in Switzerland. You enter at the 
lowest end between two high rocks, which have probably been cut 
through by the action of water wearing incessantly for ages past. A 
stream of considerable volume and power now rushes through the 
glen, which is some miles long, making some pretty cascades and 
waterfalls ; it abounds in deliciously-cool pools, moss-grown and 
lichen-stained rocks, and fantastic paths. Across the chasm, near the 
head of the glen, is thrown a railway bridge, light and elegant in 
structure, and sufficiently in the air to try the nerves of the timid as 
the train rolls across. At the time of my visit the trees were a special 
feature, bright with October hues. From the hotel balcony at Watkins 
one has a grand view of the extended valley into which the waters 
of the various glens fall, and at the lower end of the valley is 
Lake Seneca, upon which steamers ply to Geneva, a town at the head 
of the lake. 

By the warm fireside of the excellent hotel at Corning, for the 
weather had gone suddenly very cold, we dined and waited for our 
train, which in the evening carried us along to Buffalo. I was out in 
the streets in the early morning, and came suddenly upon a view of 
Lake Erie, dotted with the white sails of ships. Buffalo, built upon 
the extreme easterly end of Lake Erie during the present century, 
contains a large population, with fine, wide, business streets, and 
tree-lined avenues in the suburbs, stretching away towards the 
country ; altogether an important place, quite realizing both in extent, 
activity, and picturesqueness the title it holds of Queen City of the 
Lakes. Fruit from the Far West in plenty is on sale on the sidewalks 
opposite the fruiterers' stores, and in the great thoroughfares are 



40 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

streams of busy people intent upon the almighty dollar. But upon 
this bright morning my eye continually wanders beyond the fringe of 
shipping, which hugs the town, so to speak, to the far-stretching 
expanse of water, Lake Erie. We walk in this direction, past the fort 
and military station, towards that narrowing neck of water which 
becomes Niagara River. By-and-by we take the train through flat 
country ; but the novelty of seeing immense peach orchards as we 
move along, combined with a strong undercurrent of expectancy, 
make that short railway ride of twenty miles or so anything but dull. 
At length our train is gliding over a light iron suspension bridge, 
which, at a height of more than, two hundred feet, spans the Niagara 
River. Down below, between the clean-cut rocks on either side, the 
water rushes and foams. Before we have crossed the stream the eye 
for a moment rests upon the mighty cataract, with the pictures of 
which it has long been familiar, and we feel that we have just seen 
Niagara Falls. 

We stay on the Canadian side, at the Clifton House, to which we drive 
along the river bank ; and on the verandah, outside our rooms, we sit 
and watch and wonder at the scene. The sun is shining brilliantly, and 
there is only a slight motion in the air ; yet a delicate film of gossamer 
spray is wafted towards us, and looking through it, across the river 
chasm, we see in front of the sounding cataract, painted in bright 
colours, a rainbow, quivering, as it seems, under the sun's bright rays. I 
walked along the Canadian side, towards the horse-shoe fall ; there 
seems to be an irresistible power of attraction in the deep bass-toned 
thunder, steadily beating time. Here one realizes Goethe's expression, 
" unhasting yet unresting." The air is filled with sound, not loud — 
subdued, melodious, almost articulate in its wonderful fascination. It 
takes time, after being set down here, to apprehend the relations of 
your surroundings ; to find out, in fact, where you are. You are told 
that the river here is about 5,000 feet wide, measuring from the 
American fall and round the horse-shoe fall to the Canadian shore. 
Also that the falls are only one hundred and sixty feet or so. Then 
you are beset by an eager crowd of people who are desirous of 
showing you this, that, and the other thing, for which you have only to 
pay a dollar or two. Every conceivable pretext is used for vulgarizing 



NIAGARA. 41 



the place and taking money out of your pocket unnecessarily. This is 
beyond all others the place at which travellers require this warning. 
After some hours you free yourself, and are more at liberty to sit down 
quietly and stare. This may sound strange, but I repeat here you must 
look for a long time upon the wonders before you in order that you 
may help yourself to see truly. Few who watch that ceaseless rush 
at Niagara realize that through this narrow channel the waters of four 
inland seas, draining a surface equal to the continent of Europe, pour 
their overflow into Ontario and along the majestic St. Lawrence to the 
sea. From the remote regions of Lake Superior, the picturesque 
Huron, the ocean-like Michigan, and the busy Erie, comes unceasingly 
this resistless torrent which has during uncounted ages cut the rock 
channel of Niagara river for more than twenty miles. Look how 
majestically the mass of water moves over the rocky ledge ; in times 
of autumnal drought, as when I saw the fall, that gliding mass is 
sixteen feet of solid water as it goes over for the plunge ; in rainy 
seasons it is more than twenty feet thick. And what magnificent 
colour ! As the mass of water slides down to the abyss, a broad 
band of wonderful green is disclosed, beautiful in its translucence as 
the rainbows which play perpetually near. I am giving these details 
so that those at home may be helped to create a picture of this 
wonderful cataract. My first impression was the grandeur of the 
sound ; next, what I may call the rhythmical roll of the vast watery 
mass, which holds you, as I said before, fascinated. But look how, 
out of the deep hurly-burly down below, where the gigantic blows fall 
unceasingly, arises the steaming spray. You have seen this cloud, 
low hanging near the ground, from afar, and knew that there was 
Niagara ; but watch, now you are near, the mighty wreath, how it 
rises higher and higher, the most wonderful fountain on the earth, until, 
right at the zenith, you see the last supreme vibration, which shakes off 
even in its birth a sunlit cloud, that floats away whilst you are gazing. 
Always changing, but ever with upward whirl, this column of spray is 
continually weaving clouds that ascend and sail away. We cross to 
Goat Island, that place of delicious reverie, and watch the waters as 
they are drawn towards the abyss. In the narrow rocky passages, 
through which the water plunges and foams, it is not difficult to 



42 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

estimate the enormous forces at work. Within the distance of a mile 
from the Falls nothing can withstand the mighty downward pulling of 
this wide swiftly-flowing river. 

It is difficult, in analyzing one's feelings, to say whether the fast- 
flowing stream, before the plunge, broken on its way by Goat Island 
and various rocks, or the mighty cataract itself is the more impressive. 
We stand upon the verge of the great Fall — ingenuity has devised safe 
methods — and gaze upon the roaring waters woven into a thousand 
forms in their curved descent. Then we watch the boiling flood below, 
and the eye follows the affrighted stream as it rushes along beneath 
the light bridge suspended high in air from shore to shore, and the 
stronger but still slight-looking bridge over which run the railway cars. 
Then we slowly retrace our steps and come to the American Fall, and 
after long looking prepare to follow a stalwart guide under the Falls to 
the Cave of the Winds. No experience can better convey the sense of 
power than this short walk of some yards under the American Fall at 
Niagara. 

As you approach the Fall from the dressing-house, where you are 
enveloped in flannels and oilskins, and scramble over and along the 
rocks and prepared wooden way, you are met with blinding showers 
of spray, through which you push along. After pausing for a minute 
or two to breathe and look around, you are under the arch made by 
the mass of falling water, in a gale of wind ; the rain is now heavier, 
the wind in a fury, and you stand back a few inches in a cleft of the 
rock, your trusted guide close by ; then you go on once more into a 
storm of redoubled — ay, quadrupled — force ; the rain comes upon 
you as if it meant to kill you by sheer force of pelting, hard hits upon 
your face and head and body tell you that you are in a perfect 
hurricane of wind and rain and eccentric storm — overpowering, 
unique, sublime. There you feel the power of Niagara, and yet you 
have only touched the hem of its garment, for as you stand on the 
narrow ledge of rock, battered by this terrific hurricane, right before 
you, and through which you see the sunlight, is the vast wall of water, 
ever falling, ceaseless as Time. 

I do not know anything that has so much impressed me with a sense 
of the sublime as Niagara Falls. In crossing the Atlantic, as I have 



CLEVELAND AND CHICAGO. 43 

already related, a new world was revealed, and, if I may venture to say 
so, an increased power of spiritual vision obtained. Here, too, the 
same faculties of imaginative sympathy were stirred, and I felt that the 
voice of Niagara was at one with the earth's rotation and the 
movements of the stars. 



X. CLEVELAND AND CHICAGO. 



HEN I started from the Clifton House rainbows were playing 
on the face of Niagara, and around the base of that wonderful 
column of spray which rises out of the boiling gulf below the Falls. I 
was sorry to have to leave this wonderful cataract, and those American 
friends who had been my companions there. The train rapidly 
carried me to Buffalo, and then along the south shore of Lake Erie, 
through unexciting farming country, by orchards of ten thousand 
peach trees, by pretty villages, and now and then into a busy 
town. 

It was night when I reached my destination, still on the shore of 
Lake Erie, at Cleveland, Ohio, where I found a most excellent hostelry, 
the Kennard House, with unexceptionable fare. The Forest city, as 
Cleveland is called, is considered by many Americans to be the most 
beautiful city in the Union, and it has many advantages, being on the 
shore of a great lake and surrounded by finely wooded country. 
Cleveland is built on both banks of the Cuyahoga river, and is a very 
busy place, its manufactories making such a valley of smoke as we see 
at Stockport or Sheffield. Once out of the river valley, however, the 
city is clean, with wide streets and squares, and far-stretching, well- 
wooded avenues, on each side of which are detached houses with 
abundant lawns and greenery, not fenced, but for the most part quite 
open to the street. 

I had an opportunity of sitting awhile in court with an eminent 
Judge on the last day for the registration of voters, and the crowd 
was not of a character generally to raise one's estimate of democracy. 
Many were clearly recent importations from Europe, and not a few 



44 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

were Irish. I happened in my rambles about the town to come upon 
the Democratic electors' head-quarters for Cleveland, and the score or 
so of hangers on there were certainly as rough-looking a lot of fellows 
as the most rampant Jingoism could desire. During my stay in Cleve- 
land there was a great Republican demonstration ; in the procession 
were at least two thousand five hundred men on horseback, many 
thousands on foot, bands of music at short intervals, and flags and 
banners in profusion. Euclid Avenue and Superior Street are the two 
chief arteries through which fashion and business circulate. 

I left Cleveland in the evening, taking the sleeping cars to Chicago, 
which city I reached in time for breakfast at the Grand Pacific, one 
of the busiest and most complete hotels in the States. Chicago, 
situated at the south-west corner of the shore of Lake Michigan, on 
the river Chicago, is a wonderful growth. Fifty years ago the place 
consisted of a few huts and a dozen families, besides the garrison of 
the United States Fort there. About the time that Manchester 
obtained its Charter of Incorporation, Chicago had been incorporated 
a year, and had a population under five thousand. It has a population 
now of about six hundred thousand. General Grant told a friend of 
mine in New York that when he was a boy his father lived west and 
kept a pony for him, that he (the General) had often ridden over the 
site of Chicago, and that he had no doubt the land then could have 
been bought for the value of his pony — fifteen dollars, Sir ! The 
Chicago of to-day has been built since the year 1 871, when the great 
fire consumed several square miles of property. 

The city is laid out rectangularly, the streets running east and west, 
the avenues north and south. These avenues are miles long — the 
first friend upon whom I called lived at 2,802, Prairie Avenue, and 
another at 3,741, Vincennes. Tramcars run everywhere. The Post 
Office and the Court House are magnificent buildings. I could not 
help thinking of Manchester, with her wretched dingy hole of a Post 
Office, and the twenty years' delay and loss of time and money by the 
Government in preparing plans for a new building. 

I was fortunate in being in Chicago on a Sunday in lovely October 
weather, so that I saw the people in holiday dress. Nothing in the 
towns I visited pleased me more than the Parks of Chicago. Their 



CLEVELAND AND CHICAGO. 45 

existence shows markedly the forethought and consideration for the 
welfare of the people which has been exercised by those who have the 
conduct of affairs. The Lincoln Park, of great extent along the shore 
of Lake Michigan, contains also a zoological garden, and affords an 
agreeable and refreshing change to tens of thousands of the people, 
to whom it belongs. There are no entrance gates or railed enclosure ; 
the park is always freely open to all. South Park is distant about six 
miles from the centre of the city, and is a grand expanse of woodland 
country, laid out in carriage drives and walks. Although so far away, 
avenues stretch to it from the city, and no doubt in a very few years 
the city will have grown much nearer to the park. Besides these two 
parks, which are on the east, looking over the great inland sea, 
there are on the west the Douglas Park, the Central Park, and the 
Humboldt Park, laid out on a great scale, and connected by broad 
boulevards. The times will come, most likely during the lives of the 
present younger generation, when the city of Chicago will be the 
foremost city of the American continent, for there the east and west 
join hands, and through Chicago is poured a stream of timber, corn, 
beef, mutton, pork, and the fruits of the earth, such as the world has 
never before seen. Numerous corn elevators stand up against the 
clear sky, like vast, stranded Noah's arks. These elevators are very 
large warehouses, fitted up with exquisite machinery for the manipula- 
tion of grain, loading and unloading with despatch vast quantities. 
The storage capacity of the Chicago elevators is said to be twenty 
millions of bushels of grain. 

One of the chief sights and wonders of this city of yesterday is the 
Union stock yards, where the droves of live stock are sorted and sold. 
You take a tramcar which runs in an hour to the centre of the cattle 
pens, and near which are built huge warehouses, in which the killing 
of oxen and swine, and preserving the meat, is carried on. I went to 
the largest of these pig-killing places, where they told me that in the 
busy season they can kill 13,000 pigs daily. It is a horrible sight — the 
squeaking of the brutes rings in my ears now — and I should recom- 
mend everybody not to see it. The swine are driven from the pens 
along the platform, which runs into the main building. Here about a 
dozen at a time reach the last pen, in which a man is stationed, who 



40 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

seizes a pig and hooks to one of its hind legs a chain. It is instantly- 
pulled up, suspended over a huge vat', and is pushed forward along a 
beam about a yard, when a man with a sharp knife pierces the throat, 
and it is all over directly. This goes on incessantly like clock-work. 
The pigs slide along and are next scalded and scraped. The interior 
is taken out. The feet and head are cut off, the hams and hands and 
the flitches separated, and the various parts are then passed to the 
salting cellar and refrigerator, where they are in due time sent forth 
for consumption. The cattle pens occupy, I judge, several hundred 
acres of land. 

Next to these the vast stores of timber you see piled on this 
side of the city astonished me. It is said that the largest timber 
trade in the world is done at Chicago. The lumber yards are on 
the south branch of Chicago river about two miles from the cattle 
yards. The Chicago river not more than a mile near its outlet into 
the lake makes a harbour for shipping of the largest size — running 
almost straight through the centre of the city — then it forks north 
and south, the southern branch giving water way to the lumber and 
stock yards. 

The people of Chicago are justly proud of their waterworks. The 
chief supply is from Lake Michigan ; they have also a number of 
Artesian wells. The engines at the waterworks have a pumping 
power of over seventy millions of gallons a day. 

It is a delightful experience to sit in a buggy, behind a pair of good 
horses and to drive along the avenues or boulevards of this great city, 
looking out upon the green waters of Lake Michigan, that stretches 
like ocean, beyond the distant horizon. The air is fresh, the 
sky clear, the trees brown, and yellow, and red, the vast lake lively 
with white-sailed ships ; a far off thin line of smoke tells of a distant 
steamer ; here about us are the busy crowds of people, joyous under 
the influence of this brilliant sunlight. 

I spent the evening of this day at the house of my friend, 
Brooke Herford, where I met Tom Hughes, just back from his 
newly-founded colony, Rugby, in Tennessee. Years before he had 
suggested and originated a free library in Chicago, and only yesterday 
had been feted, and been shown how his small beginning had 



CANADA AND THE LAKES. 47 

developed into a magnificent collection of over sixty thousand 
volumes, which are doing their work well. 

In the morning hours I had a last walk about the city. The 
numerous bridges over the Chicago river, the many vessels of varied 
descriptions which' crowd the stream, the busy, wide streets of the 
trading quarter of the city, State Street and Madison Street especially; 
Wabath, and Michigan, and Prairie Avenues, with their thousands of 
beautiful residences, each with its plot of garden ground, and all 
along graced with the foliage of forest trees ; these deepened my 
impressions, and made a picture to which delighted memory 
clings. 

Never did I feel more reluctant to turn back on a journey than at 
Chicago, for this was the most westerly point of my too hurried 
travels, and I remembered how Longfellow had kindly said to my 
friend from Rhode Island, "Be sure that you do not let him go back 
to England without seeing a prairie ! " And now I had to turn my 
face eastward without this experience. Another friend, too, who had 
long lived out in the region round Lake Superior, said to me that in 
the early summer time when the grasses and flowers were in their 
prime, it would be impossible to describe the extraordinary wealth 
of delicate odours which filled the air on the prairies of the far west. 




XL CANADA AND THE LAKES. 



N the afternoon of an October day, full of the beauty of colour 
on land and sea and sky, I drove for the last time along the 
streets of Chicago to the railway depot. Baskets of delicious fruit from 
California were strewn around ; I bought peaches, pears, apples, and 
grapes enough for a pleasant refreshment for four of us, all for 
seventy-five cents, basket included ! At length we are moving off, 
for some miles in sight of Lake Michigan, and as evening came on 
through undulating country. We were on board a sleeping car, and 



48 



A MONTH IN AMERICA. 



had as part of our train a palace dining saloon. At supper time I 
refreshed, at a cost of seventy-five cents. Here is the bill of fare : — 



MICHIGAN CENTRAL DINING CAR. 

Snpper Bill of Fare. 

Oolong Tea. Coffee. Iced Tea. 

BREAD. 

French Loaf. Boston Brown Bread. Hot Biscuit. 

Dry Dipped and Buttered Toast. 

BROILED. 

Tenderloin Steak, plain. 

,, with mushroom or tomato sauce. 

Sugar Cured Ham. Sirloin Steak. 

Mutton Chops, plain and with tomato sauce. 
Lake Michigan White Fish. 

GAME. 

Broiled Pigeon. 

OYSTERS. 

Raw. Stewed. 

Boston Baked Beans. 

EGGS. 

Boiled. Scrambled. Fried. 

Omelet, plain or with jelly. 

COLD DISHES. 

Tongue. Ham. Beef. Sardines. 

VEGETABLES. 

Fried Potatoes, stewed, boiled, and sweet. 

RELISHES. 

Chow Chow. Olives. Currant Jelly. 

Mixed Pickles. Sweet Pickles. 

Beet Root. Celery. French Mustard. 

DESSERT. 

Assorted Cake. Brevoort Ice Cream. 

Fruits in Season. 
Champagne, Clarets, Sauternes, Ales, Porters, etc., 
can be had on board at the usual prices. 



We had a merry time of it over the supper and for an hour or two 
before bed-time, which is usually very early on board a train, most 
people beginning to wish for sleep by nine o'clock or so. The next 
morning we were at Hamilton by about six o'clock, where we had to 
leave our luxurious train, which goes on to New York. There was 
sufficient light as we neared Hamilton to see that the character of the 
country had changed considerably since we saw the sun go down 
the previous night. Rocky, broken country, with long patches of 
cultivation, old-fashioned farmsteads, and now and then large villages, 



CANADA AND THE LAKES. 49 

came into view, and there was an indefinable something which made 
us think of home. Probably it was the simple fact, which showed 
itself in many ways, that we were in an older settled country than 
that we had so recently left. There was not time at Hamilton 
to see the town, but its surroundings are pleasant. Soon we were 
in the train again, moving on a single line through farming lands 
often fringed at no great distance with clumps of pine forest. Shortly 
we came in sight of Lake Ontario, and quickly ran into the station at 
Toronto. Here my stay was short, my chief object being to call 
upon various friends, among whom was one of whom I feel that his 
leaving us was a public loss to England — I mean Goldwin Smith, who 
is settled happily in Toronto, in a charming house with delightful 
surroundings ; and although he must be doing good work in Canada, 
he can be ill spared by the old country. We spent a pleasant hour 
or two together, and after a run through the town, the suburbs, and 
the picturesque park which surrounds the University, and a look in at 
the courts, I made my way to the steamer Spartan on Lake Ontario. 
Toronto has a most attractive appearance from the water ; rising 
gradually from the shore and intermingled with much foliage, are 
many church spires and towers of various kinds, which, combined with 
the masts of shipping about the wharves and the waters of the Lake, 
make a bright picture. The sail on Lake Ontario is very like going to 
sea, as the Lake is something like two hundred miles long and fifty 
miles across. The steamer is well appointed, the table well supplied 
with excellent plain food, and the captain a most genial host. It is 
morning before we reach Kingston, a dull town, straggling along the 
Lake bank, where we take on passengers. Shortly after leaving here 
we are steaming down the river St. Lawrence and threading our way 
through the Thousand Islands, many of them covered with trees, now 
in rich autumn colours ; by-and-by we are shooting the rapids of 
Long Sault, nine miles in length, down which we rush at high speed, 
although carried only by the strength of the current. The descent 
lasts long enough to become exhilarating, and to many people exciting. 
The St. Lawrence is a magnificent wide-sweeping river, grand by its 
breadth of water, but the banks do not impress one, never rising 
beyond quiet beauty, and often tame. 

4 



50 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

We have another night of innocent festivity on board the steamer, 
and about seven in the morning we touch the quay at Montreal, and 
make for the Windsor Hotel, one of the largest and at the same time 
most comfortable houses in America. After breakfast we drive to 
" the Mountain," an eminence behind the city, covered thickly with 
forest, but through which excellent carriage roads have been made to 
the best points of view of the magnificent scene ; Montreal at our 
feet, mapped out quite distinctly, the wide St. Lawrence stretching 
right and left far as the eye can reach, and crossing the river is the 
Victoria Tubular Bridge, a mile and three-quarters long, one of the 
engineering wonders of the world. 

Montreal is a fine city, full of commercial activity and with abundant 
attractions to lovers of the picturesque. For myself the river and the 
shipping are sights sufficient ; but besides these I spent a good part 
of the day in what we call in Lancashire " mooning " about the 
crowded streets of interesting shops or stores. Here, as in all other 
places I had been, were warm-hearted friends ready to make my visit 
a happy one ; and here, too, I met, as elsewhere, faces and names 
from the old country, to whom tidings from our common home were a 
delight. It is a happy circumstance, that all over that Northern 
Continent of America are people who not only speak the English 
language, but who have actually in the days gone by gone forth from 
every county in great Britain and Ireland to make a new home for 
themselves and their children. These are the links which bind us, 
and, along with deep intuitions, draw our imaginations continually to 
the West. 

Towards evening I went on board the steamer for Quebec, and with 
hearty greetings from friends and a good round drink, according to 
the customs of the place, we parted for a time from Montreal. The 
sail along the St. Lawrence in October by night is less interesting 
than it would be under the light of a summer sun or a harvest moon, 
and as we were not favoured with either, we were driven in upon 
ourselves and the resources of the steamer for the evening. I spent 
an hour or two and some dollars in looking over and buying various 
odds and ends of pretty and ingenious Indian work, and in photo- 
graphs of several places previously visited. Morning brought us to 



CANADA AND THE LAKES. 51 

Quebec, on a hill or cape rising out of the rivers St. Lawrence and 
St. Charles, most interesting historically, with more of an old-world 
aspect than all the cities I had visited on the other side the Atlantic. 
Curious old streets, clambering along hill-sides ; quaint gabled houses 
nodding to each other across narrow passages ; tumbledown low- 
roofed places ; churches, convents, squares with modern shops ; steep 
stair-like alleys, like Clovelly in Devonshire ; the great citadel towering 
over all, and in its shadow the fine sweeping Durham Terrace 
overlooking the river, the lower town, and the lofty ridge on the other 
side, dotted with a line of forts and villages and a town, ample 
materials out of which an artist in words might build up a wonderful 
and glowing picture. In the upper town is a monument to Wolfe and 
Montcalm — a plain obelisk set upon a solid base, with a simple 
inscription to the memory of the two men. Churches abound, both of 
the older faith and Protestants of all denominations. Hospitals, 
Convents, Music Hall, Courthouse, City Hall, and University are all 
interesting. But more than all are we attracted to the monument on 
the plains of Abraham, where Wolfe nobly fought and conquering fell. 
During the day we had an enjoyable drive of some dozen miles 
through old French and Indian villages, to the falls of Montmorenci. 
It is a lofty waterfall of great beauty. On our return in the evening 
we took once more to the river, and in the twilight, which soon 
deepened into night, steamed along the wide, swift-flowing 
St. Lawrence, now dotted with many lights, in the direction of 
Montreal. 

We had the disagreeable experience of a dense fog in the river 
St. Lawrence on this return voyage to Montreal, than which nothing 
is more uncomfortable. You can neither go on properly nor stand 
still, and there is constant danger. After much wearisome delay we 
made our port, a few hours late. In the afternoon, after seeing the 
fine cemetery of Mount Royal, on the slope of Montreal Mountain, and 
very beautiful, I took the train running by Lake Champlain, a grand 
expanse of water, with most attractive rocky shore : in the summer 
time a favourite resort. I saw it under the light of a young autumnal 
moon, riding on the platform of the last carriage of our train, the 
coloured conductor explaining various points of interest as we rattled 



52 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

through the rocky country along the Derbyshire-like curves. Afterwards 
I availed myself of the comfort of a sleeping car, and awoke in time to 
catch glimpses of the Hudson River ere we rushed into the Central 
Railway Terminus in New York City. 

I have hitherto said little of the three lakes I had passed, and which 
form so important a feature of the country. Without doubt Lake 
Michigan is the grandest of those I saw, although, with the excep- 
tion of Chicago, Erie has more important cities along its shores. But 
Michigan, Erie, and Ontario are all vast inland seas, over which the 
north winds beat, as they do in the Atlantic, driving many a good ship 
to her destruction. Only the week after I left the shores of Michigan a 
fine steamer left port one evening and was seen no more. Fragments 
of her timbers and a few bodies cast upon the beach told the sad story 
of her end. And yet always the men who have moved west have 
been attracted to these picturesque shores, Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, 
Sandusky, Toledo, and Detroit, round Lake Erie ; Hamilton, Toronto, 
Kingston, Oswego, and Rochester, near Ontario ; Grand Haven, 
Milwaukee, and Chicago, on Lake Michigan — all these and many 
smaller towns show how the convenience of a water-way, as well as 
the attraction of beauty, have drawn population round these inland 
seas. Even the lonely and grand Lake Superior is drawing men to 
its shores ; and in the Dominion, still farther north, from the Red 
River Settlement and the district of Manitoba, beyond the remote 
Winnipeg, tidings reach us of a wave of enterprising emigration 
flowing to that ancient home of the untamed bison and the Red 
Indian. Wood and water, fuel and drink, are the prime necessaries of 
man, and these are here in abundance. 



THE HUDSON RIVER, THE VOYAGE HOME. 53 




XII. THE HUDSON RIVER, NEW YORK, 
THE VOYAGE HOME. 



T was a clear bright morning, near the end of October, a sharp 
wind blowing from the north, when I took a tramcar in Twenty- 
third Street for the quays upon the Hudson River. Here is seen one of 
the features of this enterprising and well-placed city. For a mile or two 
along the river bank are wharves built out into the river, from which 
steamers start to all parts of the world ; no matter what size, from the 
smallest river ferry-boat to the Arizona, the largest ship afloat after the 
Great Eastern, there is abundant room, with deep water to ride in, 
and a safe mooring ground. Here the Cunard, the Inman, the 
White Star, the National, the North German, and other lines of 
Atlantic steamers are all loading or unloading ; as well as many of the 
great river and coasting vessels, of which I have already given some 
account. To-day I am taking the opportunity of the last day trip of 
the season to be made by one of the magnificent New York and 
Albany river boats, the Albany, capable of carrying three thousand 
people, fitted up like a palace, and going at the rate of from fifteen 
to twenty miles an hour. There are many hundred passengers 
on board, attracted by the brilliant morning and the last run of the 
year. 

When we steam away from the quay and are breasting the stream, 
New York is on our right, and we have the reverse picture of that I 
described in my voyage along the East river; every spire and tower 
and block of building is outlined sharply against the sky, the river is 
busy with quick-darting small steam tugs, with sailing ships, with 
many river boats, and with the leviathan ferries ; there is a fine 
" snap " in the air, as a lively American girl said to me, which gives an 
air of cheerfulness to the animated scene, probably the reflection of 
our own minds. We soon leave Jersey city behind us, but for ten 



54 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

miles up the river extend the city and suburbs of New York ; then we 
pass Fort Lee on high land on the western side. On both banks of 
the river are numerous villa residences, those on the Jersey side 
especially commanding views of New York and the ever-changing 
stream. By-and-by, we pass on our right the Harlem river, which, 
running from the Hudson into the East river, completes the belt of 
water, and makes Manhattan Island, upon which New York is built. 
On our left are the Palisades of the Hudson, a huge, clean-cut wall of 
rock, stretching over fifteen miles, and rising occasionally more than 
five hundred feet above the grand river, not mud-coloured, but of a 
green tint, flowing quickly through a deep channel almost a mile in 
breadth. The Tappan Zee and Haverstraw Bay reaches, through 
which we shall sail, are nearly three miles in width. As we leave the 
Palisades, upon which at one point is noticeable an immense hotel, 
the Palisades Mountain House, showing how attractive a resort it is 
in the hot summer days, we enter the Tappan Reach, passing by the 
State prison at Sing-Sing, and enter a region of lofty hills, wood- 
crowned and picturesque. Each turn of the stream reveals new 
beauties, which culminate as we approach West Point. There I 
landed, in the most delightful part of the Highlands of the Hudson. 
West Point, the military school of the United States, is a charming 
place, and the views from the hotel verandah, looking north up the 
reach of river running to Newburgh, right before you on the far off 
hill side, are wonderfully beautiful. Rock and wood and water are 
here rarely combined, and my impression, vivid as on the day I sailed 
there, is that the Hudson river surpasses any river I have seen for 
beauty and grandeur. 

I have steamed along this grand river fifty miles, only a third of 
the distance the Albany will run, and as I stand near the hotel at 
West Point she steams away in mid-stream, looking at this distance 
quite a small vessel, so grand are the hills which encircle the sweeping 
reaches of this majestic river. Standing at old Fort Putnam, just 
above West Point, the eye wanders over a wide range of hills, 
covered for the most part with thick wood, brilliant now with colour, 
varying from 1,400 to nearly 2,000 feet high, around the lower slopes of 
which the Hudson finds its course. In the days when Hampden and 



THE HUDSON RIVER, NEW YORK. 55 

Cromwell were fighting for liberty in the old country, from which the 
Mayflower sailed to Plymouth rock, over these ranges of high land 
roamed tribes of red Indians, whose only memorials are to be found 
in the names they have left behind. 

I had a delightful couple of hours of quiet rambling about West 
Point before crossing by steam ferry to the train, which took me back 
rapidly, running along the east bank of the Hudson to New York. 

The two best places to dine in New York are Delmonico's and the 
Brunswick Hotel, both in Fifth Avenue. Here you can have every- 
thing that the most epicurean palate may desire. On my last evening 
in New York, we went to the Madison Square theatre, which is 
peculiarly constructed. The orchestra is above the proscenium, the 
effect of the music being exceedingly pleasing. There are two stages, 
so that intervals are very short between acts, set scenes being arranged 
on one stage, whilst acting is going on on the other. We saw the 
popular play of Hazel Kirke, which was having a long run. The 
American theatres are all well arranged, and there are few of the 
inequalities in outward appearance we see at home. There is no dress 
circle, one of the essential differences of an American indoor crowd and 
one elsewhere is that the people are all well-dressed and clothed with 
self-respect, which gives even a serious aspect to an audience. There 
is little applause in any theatre I was in and no enthusiasm. Between 
the acts iced water is handed round. 

A visit to New York would be incomplete without some notice of 
the slums and places of amusement of the masses of the people. 
And I had arranged, with a young fellow-townsman, that before 
leaving should there be an opportunity, I would make an arrangement 
with the detective police to be shown those amusements and vices 
which are to be found in all modern cities. I had on a previous 
evening spent a pleasant hour at one of the largest music saloons, 
Koster and Bial's Garden, Twenty-third Street, Sixth Avenue, where it 
was refreshing to see the crowd of orderly, well-conducted people of 
both sexes, enjoying the performance of excellent music by a numerous 
band of musicians. There is no doubt a large consumption of lager 
beer at this and like places. The large hall, hung with paintings, 
fitted up with hundreds of chairs and small tables and lighted with 



56 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

the electric light, is an attraction in itself. There is a large German 
element in the crowd whichnightly spends its time and takes supper 
here. 

The Bowery, New York, has always had a notoriety as a rough 
unsafe region at night for unguarded wayfarers ; many murders and 
other crimes have been done there ; and one of the first places to 
which our intelligent conductor led us, was a dark passage leading to 
a blind court of three or four large houses, each occupied by many 
families, all of the lowest class, mostly criminal. The place is called 
Donovan's Court, from the fact of a murder of unusual horror, by a 
man of that name, having been perpetrated there. Daylight has been 
let into many of these dark places during the past few years by city 
improvements, and by the efforts of self-denying, religious men and 
women especially. 

We next went into what from the street appeared to be an ordinary 
common beerhouse, but really a sparring crib kept by one Owen 
Geoghan. Here was an assemblage of men and women of the lowest 
type I have seen. Drinking and noise in these places go together. 
Near the inner end of the room was a platform, about three feet from 
the floor, roped round, and on this presently appeared, two men 
stripped for an encounter. It was not fighting, as they were gloved, 
but they hit each other very hard, and were well tired after a few 
rounds. All this time drinking and noise continue. There are 
various such places hereabouts. 

Next we went for half an hour to Kramer's Atlantic Gardens, 
so-called — a large German music hall, which at this hour, about mid- 
night, is filled with many hundreds of men, women, and young people. 
To the table next to that at which we sat came two families and had 
supper, chiefly German sausage in quantity and lager beer. This is a 
respectable place of amusement. Our guide told me that he came 
here occasionally, bringing his wife and any of her friends ; and it is 
quite unique, for the band of musicians consists of women performers, 
chiefly on stringed instruments. The ladies' orchestra was a novelty 
to us ; they played excellently various pieces from Gounod, Mozart, 
Auber, and Strauss. On Sunday sometimes as many as two thousand 
five hundred people go there, the average being sixteen hundred. 



NEW YORK. 57 



About forty barrels of lager beer are consumed on one of these 
occasions. But a Teuton will sit all night long with a mug of lager 
before him listening to the music and smoking the inevitable pipe. 

Our next turn took us to the saddest sight I saw, the lowest places 
in Water Street into which seamen and others are enticed by women 
who have gradually sunk down to this lowest hell in human life. We 
went into two places, the " Caledonian Hall " and " The Man at the 
Wheel," both low drinking houses and dancing shops opening on 
to the street. Here truly might be written up the most tragic 
words of Dante, " Abandon hope, all ye that enter ! " To my 
surprise I found that one of these places was kept by a Salford 
woman, who, on learning we were from her neighbourhood, wished us 
in true Lancashire fashion to have something to drink. 

Our next visit was to a Chinese opium smoking place, in a cellar, 
where Chinamen and others who wish inhale the deadly intoxicant. 
Our stay here was not long, and none but Chinamen were there, but 
I saw enough to feel the truth of Dickens's descriptions in Edwin 
Drood, and was glad when we left the den. Then we came to a street 
in which most doors were open, and where, out of each house, 
through crimson curtains, came light and laughter ; of which Solomon 
said long ago, " The end of that mirth is heaviness, for he 
knoweth not that the dead are there ; and that her guests are 
in the depths of hell." It would be hard to describe what we wit- 
nessed in the houses we visited here — but I will say that we saw both 
white and coloured humanity under circumstances which show how 
unaltered is human nature for several thousands of years. Alas ! it 
was a night of sorrowful memories ; what tragic histories had I not 
read in the faces of some of those who had passed before us, and I 
felt how impotent and imperfect in some directions is our much- 
vaunted civilization. It is the saddest side of our modern life, only to 
be changed by ages of suffering and woe. 

The night was wearing fast, so driving through the almost deserted 
streets, we moved towards the river, and shortly reached the Cunard 
wharf, where I said good-bye to my young townsman and tried to find 
an hour's sleep. I was stirring early, for various friends had come to 
say farewell ; punctually to the hour of starting, six o'clock a.m., 



58 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

preparations were astir for casting off, and in fifteen minutes we felt 
the vibrations of our propelling machinery and were soon moving down 
the Hudson. It is a melancholy scene in the early morning in October, 
cold and wet ; and after the start we were all very quiet for a time. 
By-and-by, as the great sun rushed up over the sea, making the sky 
aflame with light, we became more cheerful, and as we looked around 
and saw the scenes we had looked upon as we neared America a 
month ago, some among us brightened up and laid ourselves out for 
a pleasant time. 

We had on board the Bothnia about one hundred and seventy cabin 
passengers and about forty forward. It takes a day or two to settle 
down in your quarters and to find out who are to be your companions 
during the voyage. We had not, however, been at sea forty-eight 
hours before it looked like troubled water, and a goodly number of 
our friends preferred to remain on deck when the bell rung at meal 
times. Then we got into roughish weather, and the racks were put 
on the tables, the attendance thereat becoming " small by degrees and 
beautifully less." Fortunately, I escaped all feeling of uneasiness, and 
was able thoroughly to enjoy the changing scene. How unlike our 
outward voyage. One comfort there was, however, we had no fog ; 
but heavy rain now and then and a rolling, tossing sea, that gave the 
troubled voyager little rest. After we had been out a week or so it 
became a matter of calculation whether we should be in port by Satur- 
day night. We had hoped at the start to reach England on Saturday 
morning, then as the run on the day showed under two hundred miles, 
hope gave way to despondency, and Sunday night or Monday morning 
was the time looked for. 

It was a magnificent sight to watch from the deck the rolling of the 
mighty Atlantic waves, first as they came on steadily in front, the 
vessel rising on the waves ; then as we passed over and descended 
into the deep valley between each roller, to see the mighty wall of 
water rise up like a mountain behind us and slide away. Hour after 
hour have I watched and wondered at these gigantic waves as they 
rolled along ; now and then, as if by some freak, instead of rising as 
it neared the wave our good ship would put its prow right into the 
water ; then came a mighty rushing whirl and a scampering out of the 



THE VOYAGE HOME. 59 

way by passengers ; two or three feet of solid water rushing along is 
not to be trifled with. Then we should get a blow sideways from some 
eccentric wave, and the ship would shudder, as it were, and seemed to 
be struck motionless for a moment, ere she plunged forward once 
more, riding upon the waves. And so we went on for days and nights, 
when it was dark, for the moon had died away after the first night or 
two. The stars were at times very bright. I saw several of the moons 
of Jupiter through my ordinary opera glass. At length the weather 
moderated, not that we had experienced any heavy winds, for we were 
told that the winds we had experienced did not account for the heavy 
sea — the wind was, fortunately for us, elsewhere. 

It is impossible to give a complete idea of the wonderful effect a 
change of weather from cold and stormy to sunshine and a smoother 
sea has upon a couple of hundred people on board an Atlantic steamer. 
Yesterday and as I have said for seven or eight days past, invalids 
have been below or reclining on deck in chairs under heavy wrappers, 
having their slight needs brought up to them and undergoing a 
perpetual process of coddling. Now and then a shower of rain would 
come and flutter the crowd of sufferers, and then patience would give 
way under the small trial. Occasionally a sail was seen at some 
distance, and a slight sensation of tidings from afar would stir the ship. 
Then we should watch for her signals and our return message, and 
again the wide waste of waters would present no object upon which 
the eye could rest. Several times upon our voyage large shoals of 
porpoises would leap along with the ship, and now and then a solitary 
bird fluttered as if exhausted and rested awhile upon the rigging of 
our mainmast. The jollier, stronger section of the passengers would 
between meals, which seemed to come often, amuse themselves by 
whist, poker, euchre, and other games at cards, or playing at sea quoits 
or sea skittles, or getting up auctions or pools, or singing in the smoke- 
room, or gathering in a knot would discuss some vexed question in 
politics or ecclesiastical affairs. To-day the pure air and wonderful 
sky of cloudless blue has diffused not only an invigorating influence 
over the passengers externally, but there seems to be a purer moral 
atmosphere. Books are more in request, letter-writing is resumed, 
conversations more aesthetical than polemical are the order of the day. 



60 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

During the voyage we have made the acquaintance of various officers 
of the ship, and the chief engineer, Mr. Brown, a capital fiddler, suggests 
that, with so much musical talent on board, we might get up a concert. 
Consider it done, Mr. Brown, was our reply, and accordingly steps were 
taken, and — having obtained the captain's consent — the entertainment 
organised. A collection had been made on the previous Sunday, after 
a sermon by the Bishop of Edinburgh, when the sum of £\g was col- 
lected. To-night, Friday, we intend to make another effort to supple- 
ment this sum in aid of the Seaman's Orphan Hospital at Liverpool. 
We request four of the most charming girls on the ship to take charge of 
the collecting, and we have our concert, a Mr. Pirn in the chair. We 
have a prologue written for the occasion by an enthusiastic passenger, 
and an excellent speech from the chair, and a feeling of peace and good- 
will pervades the assembly. The concert is a success, and the collection 
amounts to ^i 1 5. Then the more robust, if not the more musical of the 
party, adjourn to the smoking-room and hold a second or more secular 
concert until a late hour, and the skies look down smilingly. 

The effort to be of use has not been in vain, and the numerous 
family with the cheerful Captain as our head, in this floating home, is 
animated with kindlier feeling and with widened human sympathy as 
we get towards the end of our voyage. 

We are nearing land ; a little bird flutters on to the ship, and is 
easily taken by the hand of a sailor, who tenderly cares for it. 
Shortly before three a.m. it is very dark, a light flashes in the sky, low 
hanging near the horizon. As we move forward it seems to rise and 
to come nearer ; and by-and-by we resolve the star into, and are 
passing, the Fastnet Light. Out there, not far beyond, just visible, is 
a low, black line of rocky coast. It is Ireland ! I go down to bed, 
much pleased with what I have just seen. No other passenger astir. 
Towards seven o'clock we are nearing Queenstown, and everybody is 
on deck. Shortly we put in towards the harbour, but only stand off a 
short time whilst the letter-bags are put on the tender and one or two 
passengers leave us. Then, as we stand out to sea again, we see the 
steamship Gallia, from Liverpool yesterday, nearing us, and we put 
off a boat to take their pilot on board our ship. For a few moments 
we are near each other, and give a grand uplifted shout of welcome. 



EPILOGUE. 61 



Presently the pilot comes on board, our engines move, and we are 
making up Channel ; the snow-topped mountains of Ireland telling us 
the reason of the cold wind which has been blowing for some hours. 
And so until night we steam towards the Mersey, at the mouth of 
which river we hang about until next morning, when we sail up 
between her brown low shores, everything looking as if it had been 
ink-washed, everybody full of excitement as we near Liverpool. 
Ah ! there is our tender coming ! That with the red funnel. Now we 
look through our glasses for the faces we know so well. Yes, there 
they are, coming to meet us, God bless them ! They are here ! It is 
a time of quiet emotion this returning home, to one's kindred, to Old 
England, after the perils of the deep. And it is still true, as of old, 
that " they who go down to the sea in ships see great wonders." 

We are on shore ; on English ground once more ; after the usual 
Custom-house botheration and cordial farewells to our companions on 
the sea, we soon reach our train, and by afternoon on Monday, the 
first of November, are in the old house at home. 




XIII. EPILOGUE. 

HAD purposed stopping at the end of letter twelve, but there 
is so much more to be told about what I saw in America, 
that it may be well to give a baker's dozen of letters, and bring 
together some generalizations which may interest those who have 
followed my steps week by week. One prominent fact must occur to 
all who have traced my wanderings on the map — the great extent of 
country over which I travelled in four weeks. America is so large 
that facilities for comfortable travelling are necessarily studied and 
arranged in a much more complete manner than on this side the water. 
As I have related, not only sleeping cars but dining cars are attached 
to the long-distance trains, and where they are not abundant time and 
provision is made at some convenient station for refreshment. The 



A MONTH IN AMERICA. 



advantages, too, of the long-carriage system, which affords the means 
of walking from end to end of the train, are found out in these long 
journeys. There is also usually " on board " a large collection of books 
and periodicals for sale. In all the trains I entered, and they were many, 
iced water was placed in every carriage or brought round by a boy at 
intervals. And in almost every carriage was a ladies' or gentlemen's 
lavatory. On the river steamers and the boats which run along the 
Sound the same careful provision for the comforts of passengers is 
shown. 

In one of my letters I said that a special chapter might be given 
upon dining in America. I do not think this is necessary, but I may 
say that a stranger at first finds a difficulty in getting enough to eat, 
until he is familiar with the bills of fare and the way dishes are prepared. 
I was frequently asked by an American friend during the first few days 
after landing, as a joke, whether I was wanting my dinner. To which 
I seriously answered yes, several times a day. As in many other 
matters in the cities, the American cuisine is after French models. 
A mutton chop such as we know it at home is never seen ; soles are 
unknown. As was said in the Saturday Review the other day, however, 
" there is much in American cookery that English housekeepers would 
do well to borrow." The variety of dishes is astonishing. I have 
before me a bill of fare of the day, Thursday, 23rd September last, at 
one of the large sea-side hotels. There are oysters, lobsters, clams, 
soft-shell crabs, and little necks, all served in a variety of ways. Six 
soups to select from follow. Then come twelve kinds of fish, followed 
by entrees, by roast and boiled flesh and fowl, and by game. Twenty- 
five items swell the list of vegetables, in which our cousins excel. 
Potatoes, cooked in half a dozen ways, tomatoes, green corn, onions, 
rice, beans, mushrooms, macaroni, and succotash, besides a string of 
salads, relishes, and preserved fruits, with twenty-six kinds of pastry 
and ice creams ! 

But these are trifles. The great fact, — which was ever present to my 
mind, and which was brought home to me in a thousand ways, from 
the morning I stepped upon the quay by the Hudson River and was 
accosted by a Custom-house officer, to the day I embarked in the 
Bothnia on my return home, — was the American people. There, 



EPILOGUE. 63 



separated from us only by the ocean, are fifty millions of people, 
speaking our language, working hard late and early, prospering and 
happy, self-governed and strong. Unconsoled by the presence of 
a State Church, and yet possessing more places of worship per head 
of population than elsewhere ; unprotected by a great costly standing 
army or navy, and yet secure ; and even destitute of an aristocracy 
with hereditary privileges and power, yet unconscious of their poverty. 

To travel in the United States is to witness the full meaning of the 
civilisation of the nineteenth century, untrammelled by prejudice or 
precedent. Do not let this be misconstrued as speaking in a strain 
derogatory of my own countiy. It is not so intended, for I am 
sufficiently antiquated, and unequal to the task of divesting myself of 
what may be called prejudice, to still believe that the best outcome of 
civilisation is yet to be found among English gentlefolk, where culture 
has gone hand in hand with breed. And I have an instinctive 
repugnance to nickel and veneer of all kinds. 

Lord Beaconsfield in his most tawdry, recently published work, 
" Endymion," has gone out of his way to use a double-shotted sneer, 
when he makes one of his characters suggest the supposition that society 
in America is very like society in Manchester. And yet these American 
people, like the working and middle classes of England, have done 
great things, notwithstanding much opposition from the patrician 
class. It is not wise to sneer either at Manchester or America. 
Manchester has done the State some service, and they know it. 
The existence of the United States is an influence continuously 
operating on the Old World, which as time rolls on will gather force 
and become irresistible in changing much of the political and social 
structures that now look lasting. To my mind one of the sublimest 
episodes in the history of nations was seen after the suppression 
of the Southern Slaveholders' Revolt against the United States, 
when a vast and excited army, flushed with victory, was rapidly 
disbanded, and its soldiers returned to their peaceful avocations 
as citizens. Nor was the example of the United States Government 
less striking for its magnanimity when they forgave and set free 
the leading rebels, who had caused the expenditure of an unparalleled 
amount of blood and treasure. To their honour also be it remembered 



64 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

that they were willing to submit important claims to arbitration with 
respect to the pirate ship A/abama,bm\t and launched in one of our 
chief ports, and which thence sailed forth on the high seas to burn 
and destroy the property of a friendly nation. These were two 
examples which will not be without effect in future history. 

There is one matter of policy pursued by the United States which 
is distasteful to Englishmen especially, and that is their high protective 
tariff. And on this question I had frequent opportunities for discussion. 
We need not wonder, however, at the slow progress the doctrine of 
free exchange makes in the States, when we remember that even 
aided by a famine in Ireland how difficult a fight we had to establish 
the principle in our own country. Moreover our fight here was for the 
prime want of life, bread. There, food is produced in abundance, 
not only for themselves, but for all the world. And it is a protection 
of manufactures, not of bread-stuffs. But I have no doubt whatever 
that the common sense of America will settle this question, for light 
penetrates, and the principle of free exchange of commodities is as 
true and beneficent in its action as all other laws of the universe. And 
as only fifteen millions of people are directly interested, or believe that 
they are, in opposing this law, whilst the remaining thirty-five millions 
are sufferers to a large extent by the opposition, it is clearly a matter 
of light and knowledge, which Time will bring. 

The extraordinary extent of inland navigation in the United States 
is without doubt one of the most commanding features of the country, 
which had, to a large extent, before the discovery of railway making, 
guided the spread of population and determined the sites of many 
cities. I think that few among us realise the fact, that there are four 
rivers on the continent of North America, any one of which is larger 
than all the rivers of the United Kingdom put together. There are 
more than sixty thousand miles of river, and over one hundred and 
fifty thousand square miles of lake, on the northern continent of 
America. The Lakes alone occupy an area equal to the whole extent 
of Great Britain and Ireland, with the Channel Islands and another 
Ireland added. These rough and ready comparisons will help us to 
estimate the attribute of vastness, which so characterises America. For 
two thousand miles almost, from the Atlantic seaboard inland, the 



EPILOGUE. 65 



land, rarely rising to mountain heights, is drained by the great arterial 
rivers, Missouri and Mississippi, with their many tributaries ; some of 
these, take the Arkansas, the Tennessee, and the Ohio, being mighty 
streams that thread their way thousands of miles through rock and 
forest and mountain land. And yet at the beginning of this century, 
and even later, the population of the United States hung about the 
Atlantic sea-board, and may be said roughly not to have penetrated 
more than two or three hundred miles inland, except at New Orleans 
and along the banks of the great rivers, and stretching like a fringe 
around the Gulf of Mexico. 

It was the discovery of gold in California that, acting like a load- 
stone upon the adventurous spirits both of the Old World and the 
New, drew the stream of population westward ; and, although the 
excitement incidental to all auriferous discoveries has subsided, other 
not less valuable finds have attracted men thither from far and near. 
For on their way west, and especially on the vast western plains, 
virgin soil was found, prolific and inviting, with a climate so exhilarating 
and dry that wheat of the finest quality is grown, cut down, and 
threshed on the field, no housing necessary, in quantities sufficient to 
freight the navies of the world. Nature there, too, is prodigal of 
delicious fruits ; and in the sublime solitudes of those far western 
valleys and along the slopes of the snow-crowned Sierras, it was 
reserved for our generation to discover forest trees, stupendous beyond 
the imagination of civilized man. These ideas of vastness and 
grandeur operate on the minds of men, and are an unseen influence 
ever at work. The people of the United States are the most instructed 
people in the world, and among the most law-abiding. The school- 
house of New England was not planted in vain, and I hope it will be 
jealously guarded from priestly interference to all future time. There 
was sown the little seed which germinated and grew into the tree of 
liberty, and the defence of which has lifted the United States to a 
foremost place in the nations of the earth. 

They are a nation of workers. Time will bring leisure when Art 
will grow upon American soil. There is even now no English poet 
who is more read and whose combination of mind and feeling has a 
deeper hold on the affections of the multitude than Longfellow ; and 

5 



66 A MONTH IN AMERICA. 

for his cheery, delightful companionship who can compare with Oliver 
Wendel Holmes ? 

The American character has some blemishes which Time may 
change. Like the newly-made rich in the old world, there is too 
frequently a self-assertive tone which is not pleasant, and a want of 
deference which is painful to witness. But these are perhaps the 
exuberance of strength, and as time goes on an increased leisure may 
bring greater tranquillity of life and a repose of mind fruitful of good 
results. 

Already I see the beginning of the new age ; — that activity in intel- 
lectual work which continually applies itself to practical affairs, and 
which has given us the sewing machine, the steam plough, the 
improved printing press, and a perfect host of inventions for econo- 
mising human labour, will never pass away, but may in other 
generations work out its subtle life in creative art. 

"Let knowledge grow from more to more, 
But more of reverence in us dwell ; 
That mind and soul, according well, 
May make one music as before, 
But vaster." 

I have in my short visit to the States seen a few of their chief cities, 
and, along with several places historically interesting, looked upon the 
grandest object there, Niagara. But I feel how little I have seen, and how 
much there is, especially for Englishmen, both to be seen in the 
United States, and to be studied in the development of the people and 
their institutions. It is the great country of the future, and I urge 
most strenuously all those who happen to read these lines to lose no 
chances of making themselves acquainted with the condition of men 
over the water, and better than all to go and see for themselves. With 
true insight our Laureate has sung : — 

" For I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs 
And the thoughts of men are widened by the process of the suns." 

In my travels in the States I was often reminded, without knowing 
why, of what had clung to my imagination, from the days when as an 
obscure worker in sympathy with the cause of justice and freedom, I 
read the words of our great countryman, in December, 1862, who, 



EPILOGUE. 



67 



speaking at Birmingham of what was in his mind's eye, said : — " It 
may be but a vision, but I will cherish it. I see one vast confederation 
stretching from the frozen North in unbroken line to the glowing 
South, and from the wild billows of the Atlantic westward to the 
calmer waters of the Pacific main ; — and I see one people, and one 
language, and one law, and one faith, and over all that wide continent, 
the home of freedom, and a refuge for the oppressed of every race and 
of every clime." 




THE 



PASSION PLAY 



OBER-AMMERGAU, BAVARIA 



i-]th SEPTEMBER, 1S71 




THE PASSION PLAY. 



N visiting Ammergau we did not go, as most travellers do, from 
Munich, but took a carriage at Innsbruck and drove leisurely, 
during two fine days, through most magnificent mountain scenery. 
The first couple of hours of our journey is along the valley of the Inn, 
on each side of which rise lofty mountains, rugged and barren along 
their highest ridges, but clothed with pines on the lower slopes. In 
the valley are broad, green meadows, through which the cold, rapid, 
and clear river flows. We ascend the mountains and reach a high 
plateau, on which is the village of Seefeld (higher than Snowdon), and 
on all sides tower the giants of the Bavarian Alps. A few hours' drive 
brings us through Mitten wald to Partenkirchen, gloriously placed in 
the centre of a ring of mountain peaks. And with this grand panorama 
to look back upon, we reach the charming Ammerthal ; passing 
through the picturesque village of Ettal, we come in sight of a huge 
cross raised upon a high mountain cliff, which overhangs and points 
out Ammergau. 

The village lies along a flat valley, straggling probably a distance 
of half a mile. The houses are well built, clean, and commodious. It 
is not an ordinary village. As we come near, we pass pedestrians of 
both sexes, and overtake vehicles with visitors, like ourselves, going to 
the Passion Play. We drive to the house of Madame Veit, to whom 
we had written for rooms and tickets, and are quickly billeted upon a 
tidy housewife in one of the many pleasant and clean cottages. There 
is a bit of garden, in which we may sit under the fruit trees and take 
tea. We look into the town ; it is crowded with people eager to get 



THE PASSION PLAY. 



something to eat and drink. All is bustle and noise there. In the 
crowd of men sitting round the numerous tables is one evidently the 
centre of a little circle. He has long hair and is enjoying his beer — it 
is Judas Iscariot. We live at the house of Jacobus the younger. I 
have asked many groups of children whether they act in the Passion 
Play ; the answer is always that they do. All the children of the 
village take part in the performance. There are many priests here. 
No doubt they feel interested in keeping up the enthusiasm created by 
these representations. 

There can be no doubt as to the religious character of this perform- 
ance in the minds of the people. At the early hour of three in the 
morning the church bells began to toll out their invitations to come to 
mass. I looked out and saw various groups of peasants making their 
way there. At half-past five our little party went to the church — it 
was crowded, almost entirely with peasants, both men and women. 
There were very few visitors present. At the five altars priests were 
officiating, and in various parts of the service the congregation 
responded, men and women alternately, most heartily. There was 
much devotion. The music was very moving — the soprano and bass 
voices unusually fine. I have seldom witnessed a more impressive 
scene than this early mass in this remote village in Bavaria. And this 
special musical service was in preparation for the solemn representation 
of the Passion of the Lord and Saviour, whom these people worship, 
and the image of whose crucified body is placed before their eyes 
almost at every turn and winding of their highways and villages. 

The early morning September mist had scarcely passed out of the 
valley and revealed the mountain sides, as the people crowded into the 
theatre, open for the most part to the sky. It is a singular sensation 
to sit in this theatre, so unlike all others of this age — and whilst 
waiting for the beginning of the drama, to look out upon the blue sky, 
the green meadows, the distant villages, and the pine covered hills, 
which form a sort of amphitheatre around us. On each side is a row 
of poplar trees ; between them and the drop scene are the two 
openings which fairly represent streets in Jerusalem, and, again, are 
two balconies, representing the houses of Pilate and Annas. In and 
before these balconies certain important scenes are enacted. 



THE PASSION PLAY. 73 

Precisely at eight o'clock a gun is fired, the vast audience settle 
themselves down and are rapidly hushed to silence, the music 
gradually rises like a delicate odour, and the chorus enters. The 
chorus is composed of nineteen persons, — twelve women and seven 
men. These arrange themselves in a semicircle upon the stage and 
announce and describe the various scenes and tableaux, the leader of 
the chorus, John Dimmer, taking his place in the centre. He gives 
what may be called the recitative. They are picturesquely dressed in 
flowing robes, and they group themselves most artistically. The 
entrance of the chorus is most impressive by their dignified and 
graceful movements. The curtain rises, and the first tableau is before 
us. It is a representation of Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise by 
the Archangel with a flaming sword. The grouping is very picturesque, 
and it is wonderful that the pose can be maintained so long. This 
first tableau remained before us about three minutes. During this 
period the choir sing their explanation of the picture and its relation 
to the scene which is to follow. The second tableau represents the 
Adoration of the Cross. These two pictures symbolise the idea of the 
the play, — the fall and hope of man, — and precede the first scene of 
the drama, which is Christ's entry into Jerusalem. This is very beau- 
tifully worked out ; many children, women, and men, with palm 
branches in their hands, precede and accompany Christ, who is seated 
upon an ass. These spread their garments before him. The whole 
play very faithfully adheres to the Scripture narrative both in action 
and text. Nothing can be more impressive than the calm, dignified 
manner of the Christ, as he, after dismounting, comes slowly before his 
followers toward the front of the stage, where the chief discourse is held. 
Although Mair and Lechner, — the Christ and the Judas of the play, — 
are wonderful actors, it is only right to say that all the acting by the 
men is fine. The Caiaphas is quite equal to the two named. The 
most trifling part is not left in careless hands. The women only play- 
weakly, but their beauty, and the tenderness of their tones of voice, are 
some compensation for their inefficient acting. The face of the Virgin 
is a poem, and her voice is full of heart-breaking tenderness, but she 
and the other Marys are almost dull and frigid, when one would look 
for the intense anguish they are suffering to manifest itself in outward 



74 THE PASSION PLAY. 

demonstration. At the vacant tomb of the risen Lord they are 
impassive — only at the sight of her son bearing the heavy cross does 
Mary put her feelings in her speech. And at this point in the play, 
there was a widely-spread response in the breasts of the audience. 
It may be the simple and wondrous story with which we are all so 
familiar from our earliest childhood, or the rare spectacle of a village 
population, for generations devoting themselves in their leisure to the 
study of dramatic art, impelled by a deep religious motive ; but without 
analyzing why, — there is certainly something extraordinary in the fact 
of three thousand people, and of these a large proportion of impatient 
English and Americans, sitting attentively with only one pause, to 
witness a performance which lasts from eight to nine hours. 

During the movements of the crowd in the entry into Jerusalem, 
and in a manner which one does not notice until it is done, the scene 
is changed to the outer courts of the temple, with the money changers 
in full swing, and those who sell doves. Mair's acting here is fine ; his 
rebukes sting the Pharisees ; he overthrows the tables, and, taking 
cords, drives out with stripes the dealers from the courts of the Temple. 
Here the crowd supports him, but an adverse faction is created of the 
dealers and the Pharisees, which the chief priests observe and foment. 
Christ takes leave of his followers and with his disciples retires to 
Bethany. 

The next scene in the drama is that of the Jewish Sanhedrim, in 
which Annas and Caiaphas figure prominently. The members of the 
high council hold an excited meeting on the recent doings of Christ, 
and the strongest feelings of exasperation are expressed against him. 
It is thought that one of the followers of Christ is susceptible to a 
bribe. A loudly expressed desire for retaliation upon Christ by the 
Pharisees and dealers follows — they are commissioned to find him 
out — and the meeting closes with dire resolutions and invoking the 
fathers of Israel. 

The third scene, or act as it called, is Christ at Bethany. It is 
divided into three parts ; the walk with his disciples to the house of 
Simon, their talk by the way about his departure, then the meal taken 
together in the house where Martha waits upon the Lord and his 
disciples, and where Mary Magdalene comes and casts herself before 



THE PASSION PLAY. 75 

the Master. She anoints his head and feet with costly ointment. The 
grouping here was picturesque, but the acting of the Magdalene very 
formal. The parting of Christ (which follows,) and his mother was 
very beautifully rendered — it was a quiet, simple, tender leave-taking, 
full of deep, unspoken grief on the part of Mary, as she embraces her 
steadfast son, upon whom to look is to feel strong. He gently leaves 
his mother with her women and Lazarus, and the disciples follow him. 
This was a brief and beautiful scene ; and there was a decided sadness 
upon the audience during its representation. 

The fourth scene gives the journey to Jerusalem ; here the tempta- 
tion of Judas occurs. He lingers behind the rest of the disciples, and 
whilst soliloquising about the value of the lost valuable ointment is 
overtaken by one and then others of the dealers, who offer him money 
to betray the Master into their hands. After much agitation he 
succumbs to their repeated pressure, and promises to accept their 
reward. 

The fifth act is one of the most impressive scenes in the whole play, 
and yet it is the least assisted by external theatrical aids. It is the 
scene of the last supper — Christ and the twelve apostles are seated 
around the table, grouped as in Leonardo da Vinci's picture — he speaks 
to them in the words we read in the Gospels. The Scripture narrative 
is acted and spoken. The Lord washes the disciples' feet — it is very 
impressive in its simplicity. Then after the washing of feet he breaks 
bread and gives the disciples, each one, to eat — followed by his taking 
round the cup and saying, " This is my blood, drink ye all of it. Do 
this in remembrance of me." Then comes the question of who is the 
one to betray the Lord. Jesus places a sop in the mouth of Judas, who 
starts as possessed of a devil, and as Christ utters the words, " What 
thou doest do quickly," he rushes out as with an irresistible impulse. 
Afterwards comes the talk with Peter, and the words " Thou, Peter, 
wilt deny me." The Christ of this scene is a masterpiece of delicate 
acting. It is subdued and tranquil, yet with a sense of godlike calm 
power that nothing can disturb. 

The sixth scene shows us once more the Jewish Sanhedrim. The 
meeting of the council is very excited, and all except two of its 
members are loud and vehement in desiring revenge against Jesus. 



THE PASSION PLAY. 



Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus speak in his favour, and are 
declared by Caiaphas to be unworthy to sit in the assembly. They 
retort, and there is much discussion, high and strong. The scene is 
splendidly acted. Judas is brought in, and, after some bargaining, the 
money he is to have is counted out to him. With the feeling of a 
miser, he grasps each coin, and the details of his arrangement are 
discussed and settled. The assembly is excited with wrathful satis- 
faction at the prospect of seizing the person of Christ. Nicodemus 
and Joseph leave the hall — they will not be party to the contract with 
Judas. The scene ends excitedly with cries of " Death to him — let 
him die." 

At this stage of the drama there is a pause of about an hour. And 
here I ought to say that before each of the scenes proper to the play 
there are two or more tableaux, the subjects taken from the Scriptures, 
and having some reference, real or symbolical, to that which is to 
follow. These tableaux are accompanied by songs and choruses, 
explanatory, which are sung either by one voice or the whole chorus, 
or in alternate strophes by either half of the singing chorus. The music 
is always pleasing ; sometimes it is deeply impressive, penetrating the 
depths of one's emotional nature. It is in these tableaux the children 
mostly take their little parts, and are well seen in the living picture of 
the fall of manna in the wilderness ; also in the two tableaux of the 
brazen serpent lifted up by Moses. In these beautiful representations 
there are two or three hundred persons — men, women, and children, 
some very young. 

The second division of the play is introduced with the tableau of 
Adam condemned to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. This 
is a very effective picture. Adam and Eve, in sheepskins, and seven 
children are grouped in various attitudes of work and play. They are 
living statues. The seventh act of the drama is the garden of 
Gethsemane, and the events and words of the Scripture narrative are 
faithfully adhered to in the representation. It is painfully realistic ; 
the interest is intense when, during the agony of Christ, as he prays 
for the third time, an angel appears, ministering to him. Then come 
the soldiers, the crowd, and the betrayer — the incident of Peter smiting 
the servant of the high priest and Christ healing the wound — the 



THE PASSION PLAY. 77 

falling down of the soldiers upon Christ's saying, " I am he ;" then his 
being led away, ill-used by the soldiers and the crowd. We next see 
Christ led before Annas, the high priest — who awaits his arrival with 
impatience upon the balcony of his house overlooking one of the 
streets of Jerusalem. The priests have now gained the crowd of 
people to their views ; after a painful scene of questioning by Annas, 
he sends Jesus to Caiaphas. The crowd press around him, jeering ; 
the soldiers insult him and push him before them. Jesus is led before 
Caiaphas and his subordinates, and the false witnesses are brought 
forth. It is decided to send him to the hall of judgment. Then 
follows the scene in the porch, where Jesus is rudely and violently 
treated by the soldiers. Also, the scene where Peter denies Christ. 
This is most dramatically worked out ; it is painted with the minutest 
fidelity to the text of the gospel, and every actor in the play seems to 
feel the reality of his part. 

The tenth scene represents the Sanhedrim once more, which 
declares that Christ must die. Judas, after wandering about rest- 
lessly, comes and wishes to undo what he has done. After much 
altercation and violent recrimination, he throws down the money 
which he had received and rushes away. Then we see him alone, 
suffering from intense remorse at the ruin he has made ; his agony 
becomes fearful, and in his despair he hangs himself. The tableau 
which precedes the despair of Judas is one of great power. It is Cain 
a wanderer and a vagabond upon the face of the earth. 

The eleventh act represents Christ brought before Pilate. This and 
the two subsequent appearances of Christ before Pilate are perhaps 
the most powerful scenes in the play. The last scene before Pilate's 
house is exceedingly exciting and lifelike, and during its movement 
there are shown some of the most artistically arranged groups of men 
and women I have ever beheld on any stage. 

The twelfth act shows us Christ before Herod, to whom Pilate has 
referred the case, as being in his special jurisdiction. In the thirteenth 
act Pilate has given up Jesus to be scourged, and in this scene all the 
brutal mockery of the soldiery was delineated. The fourteenth act 
shows the triumph of the priestly element, which, working upon the 
populace, had brought an overwhelming clamour to Pilate for the death 



THE PASSION PLAY. 



of Jesus, and after a long and wonderfully sustained scene, in which 
Jesus maintains a sublime indifference to taunts and insults, and in 
which Pilate does much to try to save Christ from the ferocious Jews, 
he at length breaks the stick and hands him over to be crucified. 
Two thieves are also brought out, and are taken away with the Christ. 
The triumph of the priests is complete, the crowd is wild with savage 
delight. 

The fifteenth act is appropriately introduced by three tableaux : 
First, Isaac carrying wood to the altar upon which he is to be laid ; 
second, Moses raising the brazen serpent ; third, the children of Israel 
looking up to the brazen serpent raised by Moses in the wilderness. 
These are all living pictures, and they are accompanied by soul- 
subduing music — the refrain, — 

" Betet an und habet dank, 

Der den kelch der leiden trank, 

Geht nun in den Kreuzestod 

Und versohnt die welt mit Gott !"* 

following twice after each musical exposition. Then the chorus with- 
draws, and we see Mary the virgin mother, Magdalene, and other 
women, with John, approaching down one of the streets of Jerusalem. 
They pause sadly, as they with us, hear loud shouts proceeding 
from an excited multitude who are coming through the streets at the 
other side of the great stage. These harsh shouts are from the crowd 
which moves along with Christ, who is now seen bearing the massive 
cross, under which he walks with difficulty. He is guarded by Roman 
soldiers and attended by four executioners. At length he sinks beneath 
the heavy load, and Simon of Cyrene, who happens to be walking near, 
is seized by the Roman guard and made to carry the cross in place of 
Christ. Meanwhile the sorrowing mother weeps and her women raise 
their lamentations as the mournful procession draws nearer. Then 
comes Veronica. All the women are weeping. But Jesus pauses and 
speaks to them, saying in a tender voice. "Weep not for me, 



* " Worship and give thanks ! 

Who the cup of suffering drank, 
Goes now on the cross to die 
And atones the world with God !" 



THE PASSION PLAY. 79 

O daughters of Jerusalem, but for yourselves and for your children ;" 
and then the slow, sad march goes on. This is the most moving scene 
in the play — the impassioned, loving tones of Mary as she speaks out 
of her deep anguish to her suffering son, penetrate every heart. Very 
shortly follows the culminating incident of this absorbing drama. The 
scene opens and we see three crosses, not yet lifted up, but with the 
two thieves already fastened, and Jesus being nailed upon the cross. 
Presently they are raised, placed in the ground, and made secure. 

The inscription, " This is Jesus, the King of the Jews," is placed by 
order of Pilate over the head of Christ. The crowd and soldiers jeer 
and scoff. The thieves each speak to Christ, — one derisively and the 
other with penitence, — and Jesus replies. After a while Jesus faintly 
speaks ; one of the soldiers then gives him vinegar on a sponge. He 
sinks his head, and cries, " Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani," — his head 
now falls forward — he is dying — the thunder peals — there is darkness ; 
the bystanders, the soldiers, the executioners, even the high priests, 
are troubled. The executioners ascend the ladders to break the two 
thieves, and one shudders to see them die beneath the heavy strokes. 
The body of Christ does not undergo this ignominy. But the captain 
of the guard thrusts a spear into his side, and one starts as the blood 
rushes from the wound. Soon Joseph of Arimathea comes to claim 
the body armed with an order from Pilate. Then follows the taking 
down from the cross — the body is tenderly released from the 
cross, and carefully lowered by the friends and followers of the 
dead Lord. At the foot of the cross are the three Marys, and other 
women, with John, the discTple whom Jesus loved. The body is 
placed upon a linen sheet, the head of4he dead Christ resting upon his 
mother's knees. It is a very mournful sight. Then the body is 
enveloped in white linen and carried by Joseph and Nicodemus to the 
sepulchre, against the entrance to which is placed a great stone. 

When the curtain rises for the seventeenth scene the grave is 
guarded by four Roman soldiers, who speak to each other about the 
late crucifixion. Suddenly there is thunder and an earthquake, which 
throws down the stone from the door of th^tomb, and Christ, radiant 
and majestic, walks forth. This would be a fitting end to the play ; 
the interest to this point is unceasing and unbroken ; but what follows 



80 THE PASSION PLAY. 



is the women and disciples at the tomb — then the Pharisees, who wish 
to bribe the soldiery. Then Christ appears to Mary Magdelene in the 
garden. 

The eighteenth and last act is a tableau representing the ascension 
of the glorified Christ, the chorus singing joyously as he ascends. 
And as the long shadows of the poplar trees stretch across the place, 
and the sun sinks below the western hills, the curtain falls and the 
Ammergau Passion Play is over. Whether we look at the large 
number of persons engaged in the play, the great care bestowed upon 
every detail, the high character of the delineation, the vast audience 
gathered from all countries, the remote and picturesque situation in a 
quiet Bavarian mountain village, the character of the actors, the 
motives which impel them to their work, the marvellous finish and 
effect of their effort — it is without doubt one of the most extraordinary 
exhibitions of our times, and one which makes a profound impression 
upon those who see it, quite apart from their creed or their want 
of one. 

The play is over, and the crowds of people who have sat so long 
with intense attention to this mournful drama, are rapidly disappear- 
ing. By seven o'clock the village is nearly deserted, and by nine the 
lights are almost out. Throughout the three days we have been here 
we have seen nothing like the faintest approach to disorder, notwith- 
standing the great crowd and the profusion of good beer, except in the 
case of two fat priests, who, late one night, passed us on our way home, 
reeling- drunk. 




/ 



THREE WEEKS 



NORWAY 



A SERIES OF LETTERS 



Written in JUNE, 1S60. 



LIST OF OUTLINES. 



Bergen to face page S4 

Naerodai IQI 

Naerodai I02 

Stalheim Foss IQ 3 

Near Gudvangen io 3 

Styve on Naero Fjord 104 

Naero Fjord io 5 

Naero Fjord I0 5 

Near Husum no 

Near Husum ni 

Near Bokgund in 

Borgund Church II2 





: 





Irp^cfr 



STALHEIM FOSS. 



^a-'X-ttherh-OUT. 




THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



AILED from Hull, in the Anna, on the morning of Saturday, 
2nd June, i860, dropping down the turbid Humber to the sea 
about five o'clock. Bright, clear morning, but very cold ; and as we 
put off the pilot at the Spurn, the wind freshened, the sun became less 
bright, and a grey haze overspread the sky, sending me down to a 
breakfast I was not destined to consume, for the inevitable sea serpent 
had already got me in his tortuous folds, and the green sickness of a 
landsman overspread my vision as I took a place at that otherwise 

cheerful board. 

On Sunday night, as I walked on to the deck of the vessel, the 
moon, large and beautiful, sailed as it were out of the sea into the 
silent night ; turning from her full-orbed gaze, I looked upon the out- 
lines of a dark low line of rocks, with higher elevations in a second 
line beyond, snow-capped ; over these dark masses of cloud lay 
sullenly in long deep lines, in striking contrast with the broad band 
of orange-tinted sky that marked the lingering light of the setting sun. 
It was my first sight of Garnle" Norge (Old Norway). The water was 
now calm, only the ripple of the ship's advance disturbed the silence, 
but the air was extremely cold, and again I sought my snug berth. 
As I lie awake, there is a cessation in the throbbings of that 
great heart whose pulsations had so regularly propelled us ; and, in 
expectancy, I hear a few Norsk words. We are taking on board a 
Norwegian pilot, who has put off from the coast, though distant some 
miles. The first is always taken, and if one comes out he must be 
taken. At 2-45 the sun rose over the huge dark rocks, and about 



81 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

seven o'clock we near the narrow entrance of the fjord leading to our 
port, and we all meet on deck once more with pleasant faces. There 
are only five passengers from Hull, and one is a Norwegian. 

It is a sail of about twenty-six English miles from the entrance of the 
rocks, and inside the water is smooth as a lake, with rocks, dark and 
barren, rising most picturesquely on each side. As we steam up this 
lake, here and there are sweet patches of rich green ; a small house, 
with boat moored to an adjacent rock ; perhaps a few cottages and a 
small church ; occasionally on some high projection a cow or two crop 
what little provender they can from the almost, to us, bare-looking 
rock upon which they stand ; villa-like residences appear in sheltered 
nooks, and most attractive they are, suggesting the refinements of life 
and cheerful family circles on the winter nights. 

The rocks are gneiss mainly, old as the foundations of the planet, 
grim and gaunt. Grander views open before us as we advance inland ; 
still the same succession of green patches and pretty villas ; frequently 
fishing boats, light and buoyant, pass us rapidly. We make a rather 
sharp turn, and, with somewhat of surprise, come upon Bergen. We 
are at the head of the fjord ; Bergen is at the base of that huge, almost 
bare rock, that rises from the sea a thousand feet. An English yacht 
lies at anchor in the bay ; and close in shore are numerous fishing 
smacks, their high prows rising considerably, like those of the vikings 
of old, above the half-open deck of the vessels. The same style of 
boat in which, a thousand years ago, the Northmen shoaled upon our 
coasts, and swarmed over our rich and accessible flats. The town 
stretches round the head of this water, which runs up between like the 
thin end of a pear ; the red-tiled roofs straggling in tiers or terraces 
up the hill side from the water's extreme edge. 

The sky is clear, and of a soft blue ; it is a lovely June morning. 
After a very trifling formality, we are passed through the custom- 
house ; no passports asked for. We loiter up the hill, gazing at the 
strange costumes and the pretty faces, for already we have seen 
several Scandinavian beauties, and we stop at the house of Madame 
Sontum, where Brown, Jones, Robinson, and Smith, the four English 
passengers just arrived, soon form a group of equal attraction for an 
admiring and good humoured crowd. 





It - 1 M< * 

ilk --& 
-Iff -fWk 

m m 



mWM 
I m\wm 

4 mm mwh 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 85 

The peculiar beauty of Bergen, its quaint wooden houses, every 
window ornamented with flowers, is very manifest as we walk to make 
our respects to the British vice-consul. In this latitude, that, I think, 
of Petersburg and the Shetland Islands, we find in profusion, in the 
windows, roses, fuchsias, and lilies in the better class of houses, and I 
do not remember any house without its flowers. 

The streets are clean, and a crowd of life is moving about the town. 
The ordinary English costume is the respectable inhabitant, engaged 
in mercantile affairs, but that is the exception ; there are many strange 
and very curious dresses that stand out by the brightness of their 
colours from this varied crowd. The female peasants from Hardanger 
have dark-blue, close-fitting bodices and kirtles, with a white and red 
richly-embroidered breastwork, close-fitting blue and red caps, and 
braided hair ; whilst here and there may be seen peasants from the 
more distant interior, with a profusion of gold and silver ornaments 
upon their bosoms. It is a great fair, and sunny June, and we see 
Bergen under a favourable aspect as regards light, colour, and gaiety. 
In the shops we notice many articles of protection from rain— oil-*skin 
coats, hats, boots, &c, and immense wooden shoes : it is the wettest 
town in Norway. 

There is a considerable crowd, but nothing remotely approaching to 
excitement ; the lives of these people flow more tranquilly than those 
of our good folks at home. There are soldiers, though, even here, for 
even this craggy coast of Norway, facing the rude Atlantic, has 
attractions for one of " the Great Powers," who has no claims there. 
We watched their drill ; the artillery, a very fair, soldierly-looking set 
of men, who could fight like the ancient sea-kings upon occasion. 

As we pass by the burial-grounds, I notice over the grass-grown 
graves are placed wooden crosses, carved and gilt ; some of them 
twined with wreaths of everlastings, and many of the tombs covered 
with flowers. 

On the German side of the town is the Bourse, where to-day many 
merchants do congregate, and along the quay a slight attempt at bustle 
prevails. A deep and unmistakeable odour of cod liver oil and much 
fish, saturates the air in this neighbourhood. 

We visit a small picture gallery and are shown a series of drawings, 



86 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

exhibiting various stages of leprosy, which extends frightfully through- 
out Norway, chiefly on the western coast, and more north than south. 
There are here two large hospitals for those afflicted with this terrible 
evil. 

We return to Madame Sontum's to dine. Fish is served ; again 
fish, fish curiously disguised, and again fish. It is overdoing a good 
thing. You take, as a relief, some pudding. Vain delusion ; it is 
again fish, in another of his multitudinous transmutations. Beer, 
moderately good, and fair claret, with a cup of coffee and petit verre, 
d la Franqaise. 

In the early evening we had a delightful drive round the suburbs of 
Bergen, through the kindness of a Norwegian friend, to whom I had 
letters of introduction, and whose fine spirit of hospitality and good- 
will can never be forgotten. We returned through pleasant long 
avenues of lime and birch, down by the water side, where the burghers 
spend their summer evenings, and the young couples while away their 
sweetest hours. We return home a little before ten o'clock, quite 
daylight, a rich warm glow filling the western sky. At eleven o'clock, 
still light enough in the streets to read with perfect ease a letter I am 
about to post. 

The good citizens are abed ; the streets are deserted and quiet ; we 
walk along with our friend towards his home at the other end of the 
town. As we near the ancient gateway we hear a loud, unearthly 
noise — or as of some maudlin drunkard, who roareth in the mad 
dream of his cups as he hiccoughs reeling home. There is no one 
near. The sound comes, as it were, out of the air, and is most 
marvellous. "The night is clear, the wind is still — it is half-past 
eleven,'' in deep tones, is moaned through a huge speaking trumpet 
by the watchman from the Kirke Tower, and we feel that we have 
gone back centuries. Nothing was more quaintly impressive than 
this finish to our day in Bergen, though its first aspect had appealed 
to us somewhat ludicrously. 

The people of Bergen are practical followers of Franklin, in the 
matter of " early to bed and early to rise ; " as we passed through the 
town the shops were gradually opening, although barely six o'clock. 
In the early morning, the scenes, the same we had driven over last 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 87 

evening, wore a new aspect, and we felt that we were having more 
than usual good fortune in the weather. 

The road to Garnaes begins with fine sweeping undulations, each 
eminence commanding views of Bergen, the bay, and distant fjord. 
The last of these views, of the lofty mountains, the calm shining fjord, 
the little fleet of fishing boats in the harbour, the long line of town, 
straggling up the hill, and thinly veiled in morning mist, the dome 
Kirche in the centre, with the sweetly luxuriant foreground, lying in 
shadow of the mountain, made a picture never to be forgotten. 

Buckling the burdens upon our backs in earnest, we passed away 
from Bergen. As we walked along we were strongly reminded of 
Borrowdale, in Cumberland ; crags and richly-wooded hills, with a 
small tranquil lake sleeping in their midst, about a Norsk, or seven 
English miles, from Bergen. Then come a series of rocks and 
country, suggesting Bettws-y-Coed, in North Wales, but more of it, 
and continuous. Then a long stretch of wild uncultivated rugged 
moorland, a clear mountain stream rushing down the valley, and wild 
mountain sides sloping gently from either side. We had now walked 
about eight or nine miles ; it was very hot, and the knapsacks were so 
far disagreeable companions. We had noticed several small carts on 
the road containing produce, and as another was approaching we took 
the opportunity for our first essay in Norsk. " Have you any milk?" 
Puzzled look of peasant in reply. " Milk?" A gleam of intelligence. 
" Ya ! " " Can we have some ? " The difficulty now was how to 
measure or get at it. " What for that tub ? " said I, pointing to a small 
keg that stood prominently inviting in the cart. " Seven skillings," 
said the man. " Let me have it, here are eight ; " and, knocking off 
the top, we drank long and deep at our purchase, largely refreshed by 
the rich unctious liquid, and pleased, of course, at the success of our 
early endeavour to make ourselves understood by words. The 
heartiness with which the farmer shook hands when he gave us " tak," 
or thanks, as is the custom, evidenced that he considered eight 
skillings as an excellent equivalent for the two quarts of milk. 

A further walk of seven or eight miles over varied country brought 
us to Garnaes, on the south-western shore of the Oster Fjord, a noble 
expanse of water, stretching right and left many miles. Hence we 



88 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

took boat for Dalevaagen (about midway up the fjord), a distance of 
17 or 1 8 miles. The scenery along this fjord is grand ; the hills are 
not more than 1,000 feet, but they are thickly wooded to the water's 
edge, and, when not clothed with forest, of broken and picturesque 
outline. In one reach of this great lake is a beautiful waterfall, falling 
at a great elevation in one huge mass, then quickly spreading, fan-like, 
over the scattered rocks below. Our enjoyment heightened with every 
turn of the boat, and the magnificent pass into which the fjord 
narrows at Dalevaagen seemed to culminate the excitement. We 
walked through the solitary pass, darkened into gloom, almost, by the 
grandeur of its rocks and woods, passing a small village on the way 
where noisy revelry was rampant. One or two of the most hideous 
human faces grinned disagreeably upon us, drunk and madly gesticu- 
lating, as we went by. 

From Dalevaagen to Dalseidet is about four miles and a half. At 
Dalseidet, we both exclaimed, was the finest single view we had seen 
during the day, a mighty expanse of calm water, with thickly wooded 
mountains, dipping almost perpendicularly to the lake. It is another 
arm of the Oster Fjord, over which we took boat to the next station. 

In this hour's pull across the fjord from Dalseidet to Bolstadoren, 
the magical effect of the soft twilight and the perfect calm upon the 
water was marvellous. We rode in silence, and I found, in talking 
over our feelings afterwards, that my companion had experienced the 
same strange sensation of being, as it were, spell-bound with the 
witchery of the scene. Had the immense rock, towards whi^h we 
were advancing without any prospect of an outlet, opened like a 
scene, I should not, I think, have been more surprised. The peculiar 
taciturnity and sad expression of face of the old boatman who sat 
nearest to us, added to the interest. It was altogether an ineffaceable 
scene, and I felt that we need no longer wonder that superstitious 
belief in elves and fairies held its ground. In one form or another 
may the heart's deep feeling out of which they grow, for ever live, 
weaving its fine fancies and high imaginings into robes of light. 

Arrived at Balstadoren about ten o'clock, after a long day. Quite 
daylight. Excellent station ; good comfortable supper, ham and eggs, 
best thing we have had since leaving England in the commissariat 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY, 



department ; the management of which, upon the division of labour 
principle, is in the hands of my companion, a rare genius in the 
higher regions of gastronomic art. 

The walk from Bolstadoren station — prettily placed between the 
hills — to the Evanger Vand is along a bank of the river connecting 
the two fjords. This river, swollen with the melting snows, rushed 
along the valley with great force. There is considerable cultivation 
here, and the road is as through a park grounds. The Evanger Vand 
is a beautiful lake, about four English miles long, surrounded by 
lofty hills, with farms dotted along their sides at frequent intervals. 
Here and there, as we pass near the shore, is a shelving rock, rich 
with a carpet of sweet violets that waft their perfume through the 
sunny air ; now comes a patch of luxuriant grass and clover, whilst 
higher the abundant pine rises many-terraced, and the snow still in 
heavy patches crowns the scene. 

Evanger is pleasantly situated at a corner of the lake ; a few houses 
sufficiently scattered to form a group round the neat little white and 
red church, with a background of wooded hills, make the first sight of 
this village eminently picturesque. At Evanger we had a short delay, 
caused by the sudden illness of my friend. The people were very 
kind, and, after we were able to make ourselves understood, took much 
pains to assist us. Hired a carriole to next station, and were informed 
by the landlord at Evanger that in our way we should find a man who 
could speak English, whom the skyds-karl (car driver) should find for 
us, with a view to obtaining information about the next station. The 
country is very beautiful, more cultivated, with much wood, and loftier 
hills ; the streams, still swollen with snow and rain, most musical. So 
far as the flora indicates, we might be in England. In the meadows, 
the marsh marigold and lady-smock of old Chaucer are profusely 
scattered. Violets, buttercups, and daisies abound. Among trees — 
pine, birch, and ash predominate. Butterflies, blue, yellow, and white, 
just as at ho,me, flutter in the sunny air. It is perfect spring ; nature 
is still robed in her freshest green ; and the birds are singing their 
liveliest songs. We hear the cuckoo and the corn-crake loud and long ; 
and flitting about constantly on heavier wing, common as our thrush, 
is the magpie. 



90 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

As we enter the village of , the skyds-karl announces that 

T H is to be found here, and, pulling up, he asks a villager 

to find him. There is evidently some festivity in the village ; we hear 
shouts, and one or two women in holiday dress peep out of doors. 
Whilst we wait, a tall and grave-looking old man, with much serious- 
ness, almost amounting to solemnity, comes to speak with us ; and he 
carries in his hands a large wooden bowl. It is filled to the brim with 
ale. " Skole, skole," he says, and drinks, handing the bowl to me. 
" Skole, skole," I reply, and drink deeply. I was in excellent con- 
dition to enjoy the proffered hospitality. By this time a small crowd 

had gathered round us, and each one had been asked where T 

H was, for that two Englishmans were here. We became rather 

anxious to go, after waiting some time, as we had no very urgent 
reason for taxing the missing gentleman's time, but it was clear that 
upon this occasion Englishmen were in too high repute to be allowed 
to go away quietly. 

I was beckoned to follow one of the elders of the men, of whom 
some dozen had now assembled round our carriole, and I went along 
with him into one of the houses in the village ; leading me to the foot 
of the stairs, like a grand chamberlain, he politely bowed me to 
ascend, and upon entering the upper room I found what was the cause 
of all the feast and merry-making. A bride and bridegroom sat to 
receive their friends ; and, as an Englishman (of whom Mr. Williams 
has truly said the Norwegians have the highest respect, and consider 
them all lords or M.P.'s), I was thus solemnly asked to walk upstairs 
and drink the health of the happy couple. The room was decorated 
with the family chests, arranged on all sides, and the clothes of the 
bride and bridegroom spread around. No doubt there were many 
presents among the articles I saw. The bride was very prettily 
dressed, and certainly reminded me of our best ballet dancers, with 
longer petticoats and no crinoline. The ornaments upon the breast 
were numerous and sparkling, of gold and silver. The Norwegian 
women are very fond of trinkets, that is certain. The costume was a 
short petticoat, blue ; red boddice, with white sleeves ; with orna- 
mented breastplate or stomacher of beadwork, on a dark ground ; the 
long hair carefully braided. The bridegroom was dressed ordinarily, 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 91 

black vest and trousers, and in his shirt sleeves. I was again re- 
minded of " Sonnambula " and the theatre ; it was truly picturesque. 

I was asked to sit down, and with considerable formality three 
glasses of beer were poured out, and rising, the bride, bridegroom, and 
myself, each took a glass, and, knocking them together, I wished them 
severally " skole." Then they drank my health. By this time one of 
the fathers-in-law came in, and I had to repeat the ceremony with 
him. After I had " skoled " about half-a-dozen times, a mother-in-law 
appeared with food — bread, cheese, and flesh — and a new knife of the 
bridegroom was offered to me, and I was requested to sit down at the 
table and eat. Of course, I complied with this hospitable request ; 
and again, but this time with greater ceremony, out of a large silver 
cup, evidently a family relique, I was asked to " skole." This cup 
passed round ; it contained a very disagreeable compound ; I should 
think a sort of sacramental marriage wine of mixed bitters and sweets, 
that is only taken once in a lifetime. 

Happily, I had with me a few small articles which I conceived 
would be useful to the wife and a trifling memento for the husband, 
which I ventured to offer ; they were received with much gratification. 
We were once more " skoled," and now the bride and bridegroom 
offered to go out to the company assembled in the adjoining barn, 
prepared for the occasion, where fiddling and dancing were rife. The 
smiling couple were received with loud shouts ; they wished me to 
join them in the dance. Possessing little skill in the sphere of the 
light fantastic toe, I had some doubts as to whether I should not bring 
disgrace on my nationality in this matter (for the Norwegians love 
dancing, and are critical), but as I was led to a buxom damsel near 
the bride, there was no escape, and the next moment found me in the 
sweet giddiness of a rapturous waltz. Good heavens ! What an 
excitement ! Round and round, in thrilling proximity. At length the 
fiddling ceases, and we offer our fair and blooming partners the great 
skole bowl, at which they drink. By this time T. H. had been found ; 
and after receiving the information from him we desired, I asked him 
to translate a few phrases of thanks for myself and friend for the great 
favour they had so kindly given us. And as a final skole, in which I 
was joined by the whole strength of the company, I gave them 



92 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

" Gamle" Norge." This was received with rapturous acclamation. In 
return, Mr. T. H. sang " God save the Queen," and we were dismissed 
with three times three, and one cheer more. 

There was much in this village festival to please and admire in its 
unmistakeable gaiety and simplicity, and but for the unfortunate 
drinking that is always present, it would seem to be quite arcadian. 
In the country districts such as this, the wedding gatherings and 
festivities continue several days, sometimes a week, and considerable 
drunkenness, with other incidental evils, result. 

About an English mile or so from the village we passed a very fine 
waterfall, and in a short time came in sight of the Voss Vand, a large 
lake ; the small town of Vossevangen at its head. Many villages are 
scattered along the hills on either side, and large pine forests stretch 
around and upwards, losing themselves in masses of snow. 

The peasantry here are a fine, hardy race ; the dress of the women 
very picturesque. The invariable rule here is to salute as one passes 
with a cheerful " God dagen " or " God aften." It became evident that 
the wedding ale had somewhat inspirited our skyds-karl, as the carriole 
rushed wildly over the undulating road. Without springs, though 
with long slender shafts, it is, at first, by no means an agreeable 
sensation to feel yourself going helter skelter down hill, with the 
knowledge that if your pony should stumble, you and the carriole will 
likely enough roll over a bank some hundreds of feet above the noisy 
stream you hear rushing along the dale. 

By-and-by we reach Vossevangen, where we find a very comfortable 
station and obliging hostess. The church had been a very pleasant 
centre to our picture for several miles, and upon near approach showed 
most picturesquely against the dark pine-covered mountains beyond. 
It is said to have been built in the thirteenth century ; very simple, of 
wood, with tower and graceful spire, and bell most musical. The 
houses cluster round the church, here as elsewhere, as if in those early 
days of its erection they had sought its protection, as well from the 
outward storms of nature as for the spiritual overshadowing of which 
it is significant. 

There are no inns in Norway, except at the capital and in the largest 
towns ; but at distances of from seven to ten miles English on all the 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 93 



great roads, there are houses, appointed by government and under 
periodical inspection, for the reception of travellers, and bound to 
furnish the means of locomotion either at call or upon a couple of 
hours' delay, according as the station, as it is called, is rated " fast " 
or "ordinary." On all the great post roads the traveller by carriole 
will meet with little delay ; in fact, the Storthing has decreed, we were 
informed, that on and after the ist of July all stations shall be "fast." 
This will be a great advantage to all future travellers. 

At the Vossevangen Station, or B. Jersins' hotel, as a recent sign 
denotes, I made my way into the kitchen and initiated the gude wife 
or " huusmoderen " in the mysteries of making a strong cup of tea, 
after the English fashion ; and I should strongly recommend all 
English travellers to take this commodity with them, and infuse it for 
themselves, unless they wish to experiment upon their stomachs. 
Having so far succeeded in the good graces of the hostess, the rest of 
our stay here was very cosy and most agreeable. We had excellent 
beef, well cooked ; wholesome potatoes, and, for the first time, good 
coffee. We were fortunate also in obtaining very fair Madeira here, 
at the very moderate cost of three marks four skillings, or 2s. 8d. a 
bottle. A Norwegian dollar is worth about 4s. 2d. English. Five 
marks, or 120 skillings, make a dollar. 

In the evening, my companion, who was unwell, retired ; and I 
endeavoured to acquire a little knowledge of Norsk, under the kind 
tuition of a most agreeable and beautiful madame. It is surprising 
how rapidly one progresses in expression under the refining and 
exciting influences of bright eyes and a sweetly musical voice. I shall 
ever hold in most grateful memory the twilight hours upon the quaint 
verandah at Voss, with its charming broken English and monosyllabic 
Norsk. 

Leaving our knapsacks at this temporary home, we started, on 
Thursday morning, on a detour from the main road of about fifty miles, 
for the Voring Voss, the " lion " of the South of Norway. 

The road winds over undulating ground, and through sombre pine 
forests, for several hours. Ascending to higher elevations, we had 
extensive views of the far-stretching, rich, green valleys, with their 
swollen rushing rivers of clear water, musical with the roar of many 



94 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

mountain falls. It is yet too early in the year for the cattle to ascend 
the mountains ; and the melodious tinkle of the kine bell floats 
through the fragrant air. About six miles from Graven, the road, 
ascending almost until now comes abruptly upon the head of a mag- 
nificent valley. The stream, of considerable volume, alongside of- 
which we had a short way walked, leaping down 200 feet or more, 
then spreading out over broken crags in boiling surge, plunges under 
a bridge a little way down the vale. The road rapidly descends by 
zig-zags, then winds in sweet curves along the stream ; rich knolls, 
with their solitary farms, are scattered along the dale in picturesque 
distance ; and on each side tower mighty rocks, thinly spread with 
pines, and washed with falls from the snow-covered mountain heights 
beyond. Over the whole glorious scene streams bright sunlight and 
huge cloud. 

As we walk we are overtaken by a returning wedding party, with 
the elders of whom we have what small converse our Norsk allows. 
Two carts carry the older women and children of the party, for the 
entire families had met at the nuptial gathering ; the younger women 
plodding barefooted, occasionally taking a short turn in the carts by 
way of rest. Cheerful, contented, tranquil people, most anxious to 
give information and to reciprocate goodwill. Undisturbed by the 
political agitations which sweep over the great continent, they repose 
serenely in their happy valley, almost unconscious whether a Bourbon 
or a Bonaparte rides the imperial horse. 

We walk down this luxuriant valley ; for a while we sit by the clear 
rushing stream, listening to its music and the chorus of multitudinous 
falls and woods. It is a scene of surpassing beauty, and we feel its 
wondrous power in the emotions that surge over our hardened souls, 
like the river gushing over the rocks. 

At Over-Vassenden we take boat across the lake to Graven, where, 
by an accident, we make the acquaintance of Captain , a Nor- 
wegian, who, in the finest spirit of hospitality, entertained us ; stirring 
our nationality by speaking to us in English. We held quite a small 
revel here. Our native tongue, combined with real home-brewed malt 
liquor, were luxuries we had not hoped for, and their realisation raised 
us to jubilant heights of enjoyment. Our kind host led the way, and 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 95 

pointed us to the path over the fjeld — an exhilarating walk of about 
ten miles. The snow lay in thick patches across our path, at the 
highest elevation about four feet deep, delightfully cooling taken as an 
ice. As we descended from the wild moorland of the fjeld, upon 
Ulvik, the opening view was magnificent : lofty mountains in the near 
distance, with well-cultivated and thickly-wooded land in gentle 
slopes, descending like a fringe to the edge of a calm vast expanse 
of water, the head of a branch of the great Hardanger Fjord. The 
white church of Ulvik stands on a small promontory in the fore- 
ground, and many newly-painted white and red houses dot the green 
hills around. It is evening as we reach the shore, and the rich colour- 
ing of the sunlight falls on the hills. We call a boat, and shortly are 
gliding along the edge of the fjord. In a short time we have glimpses 
up the Ose Fjord, darkened by the shadow of the lofty mountains that 
divide it from the waters of Ulvik, and grander in its gloom. By-and- 
by we reach the Hardanger Fjord, wider considerably, than those we 
have seen, the mountains on each side and around rising to loftier 
heights. In the distance are deep lines of unbroken snow. Sunset, 
and its lingering glories, have gone ; the sky is grey ; with the over- 
spreading cloud comes a wind that swells the water, so as to give 
straining work to our boatmen ; but away they go, never flinching, and 
we make the south side, where there is the shelter of high rocks. 
Near midnight we came in sight of our haven, and by twelve o'clock 
are in the station at Vik. Not without a little noise, for the good 
people have quietly retired to bed ; and during the first comfortable 
hour's sleep it is difficult to persuade anybody of the occasion for early 
rising. 

At length we are admitted, and the whole half-dressed family, dog 
included, are tumultously scuffling on our behalf and the boatmen's 
whom we have asked to sup. We obtain coffee — indifferent, bread — 
stale ; and, after a brief rest, set off with a guide- to the Foss. An 
hour's pull over the lake to Saebo is the first stage, then a long walk 
on the bank of the river that comes rushing wildly down, tearing and 
roaring over huge broken rocks. Talking is useless, except in the 
quieter reaches, so we stride along in single file, silently. It is quite 
daylight, in fact there is never darkness here at this season. We stay 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



a short time watching the troubled stream and the varying hues of the 
morning sky. Then comes a long draught of rich milk at a small 
farm, with numerous cows, and quite a population of goats. Twice 
we cross the swollen, whirling stream by small wooden bridges, still 
we march on, always ascending, over a rude path made of large stones. 

The valley is very grand : broken, irregular masses of rock, piled 
confusedly at intervals, over which we mount or wind slowly round ; 
lofty crags, often perpendicular, two and three thousand feet above our 
heads, their broken and jagged outlines clearly defined against the 
clear blue heavens. Impetuous cataracts rush over these heights and 
leap from ledge to ledge, or trail their vast lengths of beautiful spray. 

A few scattered birches dot the rocks, and here and there on a level 
patch of green is a solitary farm. 

After walking four or five miles up this valley, we leave the river to 
our left, and commence a gradual ascent up the face of the terminal 
rock of this deep gorge, which, at a short distance, seems to be a sheer 
impossibility. Slowly, slowly, however, we mount the narrow stair 
(the path is carefully made of loose stones in short zigzags), and after 
great labour the fjeld is attained. Then comes a walk over soft, snow- 
patched ground for a couple of miles ; then another farmhouse, with 
its creamy milk, served to us by a very wrinkled old woman. Now 
we see the distant peaks of the Hailing Jokulen, covered with unbroken 
snows, glistening in the early morning sun. 

At a little distance over rolling moorland of the fjeld, to our left, a 
light mist hangs in the air between us and a towering wall of rock ; 
it is the spray of the Voring Foss. Through thick undergrowth and 
a small wood of stunted birches we approach the river, that dashes on 
here as wildly and furiously as below the fall ; and following its course 
about ten minutes, the roar of the mighty waterfall gradually opens its 
ceaseless thunders upon us. 

We see the Foss now in great force ; the melting snows and recent 
rains have largely increased the river's volume ; and, with a sublime 
unity of tremendous power and beauty, the waters sweep unbroken 
over the rocks, spreading themselves in their descent into a thick 
network of myriad-formed spray of purest white, and lashing into 
terrible action the affrighted pool beneath. The effect of the Voring 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 97 

Foss is overwhelming. Gazing at the fearful height from which we 
see it, lying upon a ledge of rock sloping towards the chasm, it is 
awful to watch the boiling cauldron below, and to hear the vibrating 
thunder of that tremendous, sullen, and steady cannonade. These 
give us the crushing sense of power, while the simple outlines of the 
fall as a single column, woven into multitudinous beauties in its 
descent, — this, and the radiant iris hanging on the spray, are a source 
of perpetual beauty. 

The height of this fall is variously estimated at from 800 to 1,000 
feet ; it is considered to be the grandest fall in Norway, and by some 
travellers said to be the finest in Europe. 

We returned by the same path up which we had ascended, and in 
our descent from the fjeld had magnificent views of the truly Alpine 
valley down which the river flows from the Foss. The view from 
the head of this valley is sufficient reward to the traveller for the 
very considerable labour and fatigue, were there no waterfall as a 
consummation. 

We arrived at Vik about one o'clock. A visit to the Voring Foss 
may therefore be made without discomfort in twelve hours from Vik. 
Here we were again driven to wretched coffee and a few eggs, with 
unpalatable bread ; and at half-past one we took boat for Eide, on 
another branch of the Hardanger Fjord. 

After fatigue, it is a most agreeable method of obtaining rest, to lie 
down, as is the custom here, upon the branches of birch strewn at 
the bottom of the boat. There is usually no seat provided for the 
passenger, and thus reposing we glided along the waters of the fjord. 

The Hardanger has been called by one of the most cultivated of 
Norwegians, "The Paradise of Norway;" and the fjord certainly 
realised our highest imaginations of lake and mountain scenery. The 
main artery of the fjord is several miles in width, and the mountains 
at its head are of gigantic proportions, whilst, as they slope down to 
the water's edge, thick wood and frequent patches of cultivation give 
the finer features of a lake picture. At certain points, such as the 
opening vista of the Sor Fjord, where the mountain ranges of the 
Folgefonden, white with the snows of a thousand years, are clearly 
visible, the view is sublime. 

7 



08 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

As the afternoon advanced, the clouds, hitherto sailing grandly over 
the mountains, revealing depths of clear dark blue between, now hung 
heavily upon their summits ; and here and there we saw heavy 
showers trailing along the mountain sides and across the fjord. By- 
and-by the sky changes into a thin grey veil, darkening rapidly into 
thick cloud, and rain descends. The water, hitherto calm, swells 
uneasily ; and very speedily, as if agitated at the sudden change from 
light to darkness, rolls in huge broken waves. We are surrounded 
by thick mist ; only the near shore of the fjord, which the boatmen 
hug so closely that their oars sometimes strike the rocks, is visible. 
The rain is now a deluge, and as it were for life the boatmen grimly 
work to keep our little skiff across the waves. Still the wind and rain 
increase, and the darkness deepens into thick night. The waves dash 
round us with an eager whirl, and our small craft strains and labours 
under the unusual pressure. It is a storm in the Hardanger ; and to 
me a fearful scene. I confess that as I sat silently and anxiously 
watching the faces of the men, and the increasing violence of the 
water, which seemed to be lashing itself into the rage of desolation, I 
thought of many dear faces at home, and the possibilities of a long 
night for all of us. With a wish to work, if of any use, I asked whether 
there was any danger in the storm for us ; but the boatman said " No ; " 
we should make our destination that night ; and I lay back in the 
foliage to await our deliverance. 

In an hour or more the clouds broke asunder, light descended, the 
rain gradually ceased to fall, the wind softened down to a light breeze, 
a small sail was hoisted, and the boatmen, tired with their long labour, 
took out a quid and rested on their oars as we sped before the wind. 
The water, as rapidly as it had heaped itself, became calm and 
tranquil, and soon after ten o'clock we quietly and somewhat abruptly 
ran into Eide, at the head of the fjord. 

Here we found excellent quarters, conducted by our boatmen, who 
seemed as thankful as ourselves to be once more upon the land, and 
in sight of food and rest. The station-master at Eide was a Dutch- 
man ; he understood not a word of English, and we very little 
Norsk, yet we never had a more hospitable reception. An excellent 
supper was quickly ready ; all that tired travellers hoped for was to be 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 99 

had, and with much thankfulness and not a little fatigue, after "about 
forty hours' almost incessant movement, we crept to our snug beds. 

The station at Eide was a refreshing contrast to the empty cup- 
board to which we had been treated at Vik. We obtained excellent 
wine, and very superior cookery. Reindeer at breakfast, with con- 
sumable ham ; and eggs, dressed with a fresh salad in most palatable 
style, attractively served by our " neat-handed Phyllis " of a hostess, 
crowned with the most piquant of little caps. 

The weather brightening, we set off in good time, a short walk to 
Gravens Vand, the lake over which we were rowed yesterday on our 
way to the fjeld above Ulvik, and in about an hour we were at 
Over-Vassenden. Here I had been asked by the spokesman of a 
numerous crowd, very deferentially, whether I was a lord, to which I 
replied (with, I am afraid, a twinkle in my eye as I looked upon my 
friend waiting for me in the boat) in the language of an illustrious 
. poet, " Lord of myself, this heritage of woe ;" an answer which, as it 
appeared to indicate a long title, gave great satisfaction. 

Throughout the long fifteen miles from Vassenden to Voss, the 
rain, which had begun whilst we were on the lake, continued without 
intermission. Not a thin drizzle, but unmistakably heavy wet, that 
penetrated and saturated the entire fabric in a very short time. We 
thus saw the same beautiful scenes through which we had walked so 
short a time ago, under a new aspect ; and though less agreeable to 
us to plod along, plish, plash, through mire and wet, yet grandly 
impressive as another characteristic phase of Norwegian sceneiy. 

In dripping plight we reached our old quarters at Voss, where we 
again had recourse to tea, the true elixir for pedestrians. By the 
kindness of our hostess I was accommodated with a large dressing 
gown, whose ample folds enabled me to move about the house sans 
calotte with perfect freedom and ease ; and to attend upon my 
comrade in the same elegant condition, minus dressing gown. The 
cookeiy and refreshment here were good, and charges moderate ; 
which, combined with good humour and hospitable dispositions, made 
the inn a sort of second home. We left with regret that our stay must 
necessarily be so short. 

It was Sunday morning, the bell had tolled, and sailing across the 

L.ofC. 



100 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

calm lake came boats from several distant points carrying peasants 
to mass. We walked into the ancient church, and the choir-master 
thrilled our hearts with a few bars of divine melody, awakening blessed 
memories ; and realising to me the noble words of our Lancashire 

poet — " Sabbath, thou art the Ararat of life, 

Smiling above the deluge of my cares." 

The church is rather large, compared with many we had passed ; 
it would hold several hundred people ; there are pews, a gallery 
supported by curious twisted pillars, an altar, very primitive altar rails, 
curiously painted open roof, and a sweet toned organ made by the 
organist, quite a musical genius. The building is chiefly of wood, well 
pitched, and it seemed incredible to us that such a building should 
have withstood the winters of six hundred years. 

The maidens, in their Sunday costume, the Bible folded within a 
clean napkin in hand, walk placidly in couples or groups into the church. 
They are very fair to look upon, with braided hair, long blue woollen 
skirts, and bodice of much ornament across the breast, with red 
and white sleeves. In and near the church we saw probably a hundred 
girls in this pretty guise. The men hung about the doors until near 
the time of mass. The maidens are distinguished by their dress from 
women, whose hair, we were told, is cut at marriage, and who wear no 
ornaments except on great occasions. This was a charming picture, 
and, hanging it about our hearts, we slowly and with frequent backward 
gaze left Voss. We were accompanied on our way a few miles by a 
gentleman resident, through whose kindness we had seen the church, 
and who, like most Norwegians we met, seemed anxious that we 
should see and know all to which they could help us. 

From Voss the post road to Christiania winds along the mountain 
sides, commanding fine views of the rich valleys and lakes. Near us 
the mountains stretch upwards to an enormous height, and over the 
hills, across the valley, rise peak beyond peak, until the pine fringed 
height is lost in snow. The scenery increases in beauty as we ascend 
the vale ; but though occasionally dipping, and sometimes shut in on all 
sides, the road is really for many miles up one great vale. About nine 
or ten miles from Voss, the river, wide and deep, forces itself through a 
very narrow cleft in the rock with a tremendous plunge, reminding one 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 101 

of the Strid, near Bolton Abbey, but of far vaster volume and of more 
fearful power. A few miles more and we are at the head of the valley, 
which we now see mapped out far below : a glorious sight, — wood, 
lake, foss, river, and hill mingled in harmonious combination. 

Diverging from the highway, we seek the grassy bank of the moun- 
tain stream, and, after the fashion prescribed by Mattieu Williams, 
whose book on Norway everybody should read, commence our laundry 
work, followed by a stretch in the cooling stream, — the clear, cold 
water plashing over us as we recline in its shallow bed. Followed by 
a Turkish towel this is most refreshing. It gives vigour to the system, 
and supplements those sanitary requirements in regard to cleanliness 
of which there is so much need in Norway. 

The road is now over high barren moorland ; we have lost our views 
of the valley and are in a basin of the mountains ; so, for several miles, 
gradually we are descending, and by-and-by we reach the head of a 
very deep and narrow valley, into which two large rivers leap. It is 
the head of the famed Naerodalen, and the plunging rivers form the 
two fine falls of the Sevelfos and the Stalemfos. 

The descent into the Naerodalen is down a series of zigzags cut out 
of the rock, constructed with great skill, and rendered safe even for 
driving. From this road the two falls are seen by turns, one on either 
hand ; the river and road in graceful curves winding through the valley 
far below. The characteristics of Naerodalen are, its extreme narrow- 
ness, the great height of the mountains which enclose the defile, the 
great length to which it extends, and the variety of outline of its 
numerous rocks. They are variously estimated, and range from two to 
five thousand feet in height. 

Near Naerodalen we had an unctuous draught of yellow milk, fresh 
from the cow, from two singular old women on the hill side, reminding 
us of the witches in Macbeth, by their strange garments and wrinkled 
skins. Milk, ad libitum, for eight shillings, and such milk ! We 
had previously sheltered during a passing shower at a farm on the road, 
thus obtaining a glimpse into the domestic arrangements of Nor- 
wegian farm life. The dog is a constant and noisy inmate ; he does 
not, however, show his teeth, he is " full of sound and fury." We there 
had beer and a sort of wine, Norwegian champagne, very pleasant to 



102 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

the taste, but highly charged with bowel-derangement ; rye-bread and 
butter ; with the incessant flad-brod, only taken when we could have 
nothing else. As we sat, a prettily dressed girl, whom we had passed 
on the road, entered, with psalm book and napkin in hand ; who, after 
walking straight to the table, sat and commenced eating out of a huge 
bowl (the common stock, which a man had left as we went in) the 
peculiar porridge of the country ; eating it with a large wooden spoon, 
quite placidly, and as a matter of course. The spoon is an institution ; 
each person has one, and when they have finished the meal it is care- 
fully licked, and placed in a small niche, awaiting further use. 

The mand (husband) and knone (wife) were very nice people ; they 
had about them several children, and one of the grandmothers, who 
lay abed watching us with the rest of the group, as we sat at meat. 
The gudeman read a little Norsk to us, which I could not follow, from 
a book on domestic cookery, containing the recipe for the wine. He 
also showed me a large Norsk Bible, from which we had further 
reading. It is the common custom to have beds in every room ; there 
were two where we sat, in the kitchen, and I observed elsewhere that 
at least children are put to bed perfectly nude. 

The fire-place is just an open hearth, with the usual iron suspender 
for pans, or a huge cauldron, as required. Birch is burnt for fire-wood ; 
each house has its stack prepared. Payment here was left with us 
entirely, and a mark caused much expression of feeling. Shaking of 
the hand always accompanies anything given, with the expression 
" Mange tak " (many thanks). The appearance of two Englishmen 
everywhere almost creates a little sensation : it is to be hoped that 
this pleasant feeling will be perpetuated by further intercourse. We 
had another debauch upon milk, by-the-way, in the morning (after 
our bathe), in the presence of a considerable village crowd ; and upon 
asking what we had to pay, were told, after a consultation behind the 
door of the house, one skilling (less than a halfpenny) ! I think this 
outdoes anything I have known. 

Our walk through the Naerodalen was the crowning enjoyment of a 
long day's walk, full of beauty and interest ; and it served to quicken 
our relaxing steps, and to relight the almost sated eye. The walk 
along the dale is nearly level, rich grass and patches of cultivation 



f 1' /., 




Stalheim Foss. 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 103 

skirting the road. The river, flowing down the centre, fed by many 
cascades, and several important streams, besides the two waterfalls at 
the head of the vale, swells to a considerable volume ere it plunges 
into the fjord, about eight miles below. The mountains — rugged, wild, 
pine-covered, snow-capped, barren, or streaked with many-coloured 
lichens and dark moss— tower on either hand, in every conceivable 
variety of outline, and always lofty, requiring the head to be thrown 
back to catch their summits. Here and there, immense heaps of rock 
that have been detached from the mountain side almost block the 
path, and huge boulders, like stranded ships, are frequent. Seen as 
we saw the Naerodalen, with a setting sun, and in twilight, it became 
sombre and gloomy near the end ; but a grander or more impressive 
embodiment of the overwhelming majesty of nature I have never 
beheld. 

As we approach Gudvangen, many goats were near the lower shelves 
of rock, and in the green meadows, sweet, clean, small cows browsed 
on the delicious herbage. 

The station of Gudvangen, to which we had looked forward as to a 
Goshen out of our wilderness of fatigue, proved a sad disappointment ; 
for though Murray and Mr. Williams speak of it as " good," we found 
the food poor and badly cooked ; the house ill-ventilated, the station- 
master a boor, and the charges high. Bad fare and high charges 
often go together. 

The Naero Fjord is a prolongation of Narrow Valley, or vice versa. 
The same character of towering rocks, striking sheer downwards 
thousands of feet, perpendicularly almost, to the waters of the fjord. 
Along this we took boat ; it was an exciting sail, each slight turn 
giving us a fresh combination of form, by grouping the mighty masses 
into new pictures. Many waterfalls throw themselves headlong down 
from these heights, and besides the Keel Foss, at Gudvangen, of which 
much is said in Murray and others, we noticed with more admiration 
the Haaberg Foss and the Sagel Foss as very grand. Possibly these 
are less fine in the middle of summer, when the snows have passed 
away, and the weather is dry. A couple of hours, or a little more, 
brought us into the great Sogne Fjord, of which the Naero Fjord is 
but a very short arm. 



104 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

The sail along the Sogne Fjord is wonderfully beautiful, the vast 
expanse of calm water, the loftier mountains and distant snow peaks, 
came in continual variety, as we moved slowly by the shores. 

At Groningen we paused about a quarter of an hour, and, by the 
hospitality of a gentleman residing on the rocks, had an excellent 
luncheon. 

The fjord here expands, forming a magnificent lake ; much wood on 
the hills near us, but too rocky for further cultivation. The distant 
mountain, though snow-covered, seems to be very beautiful at its base, 
clothed with verdure and sunshine. The rocks here are very friable 
with constant cleavage, sometimes breaking away in fragments of 
immense size. Still grander mountain views, as we approach the 
entrance of the fjord to Lierdalsoren, the water less broad, and 
evidently running up into the land. At six o'clock we made the quaint 
little town of Lierdalsoren, after a pull of about ten hours, with very 
little rest. The charge for this long ride, for three boatmen and boat, in- 
cluding drikke-penge (drink money), was three dollars and three marks. 
As we approached Lierdalsoren, it seemed like a collection of toy 
houses, cut out of cardboard and painted in bright colours. The 
houses, all of wood, are small, and the mountain at the foot of which 
the town is built so lofty, that the whole town, seen from a distance, 
appears like a few large pegs or stumps at the margin of the fjord ; 
and when one gets ashore, it is all so miniature that one may easily 
fancy it a theatrical stage, and the foregoing sail over the fjord a 
pleasant dream. Here this illusion was heightened and momentarily 
confirmed after we had sat down in the station by the sound of a 
distant drum, like the rat, tat, tat, in " Eiglia del Reggimento." We 
rub our eyes ; yes, here it comes ; two drums and a regiment of 
soldiers ; the whole thing seems to have been " got up." They march 
past, " halt, right about face," a short harangue, and they are dis- 
missed, dispersing rapidly behind the scenes. The old-fashioned 
muskets and bayonets, the cumbrous bearskin knapsacks, heavily 
strapped and hanging loosely about the back ; their helmets, the large 
coats on small men and the small coats on large men, with trousers 
ditto ; and the general supernumerary appearance of the entire 
force, half militia, half line, certainly justified our first laughable view. 




> 
c/a 




MM- m 




THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 105 

The station at Lierdalsoren is the best we have seen in Norway ; 
pleasant commodious rooms, scrupulously clean, with longer beds ; 
for the Norwegian beds are so short that you always awake with your 
knees forming the apex of a pyramid ; and if the people are not 
generally smaller than ourselves, they must coil themselves in their 
sleep. The best Rhine wine is here two marks twelve skillings a 
bottle ; and excellent malt liquor at a fraction under fivepence for a 
full pint bottle, quite equal to Bass or Allsopp. It is quite time that 
the malt duty should go. 

After tea, at which we had superb salmon, fresh from his native 
element, and potatoes, which are almost invariably served morning, 
noon, and night, we sauntered about the town, looking into one or two 
shops. The " apothek " here has evidently a large business ; his shop 
is the largest in the place, well stocked with the usual array of bottles, 
and, as it is the post office, affords a pleasant opportunity for acquiring 
a little Norsk, and gratifying our legitimate curiosity at the same time. 
Over the door of the baker's shop, both here and at Bergen, I noticed 
a curious sign, like a piece of twisted cable, thus £9. 

At several places we met with bread made into this shape but it is 
hard and dry. A few tin pans, a general provision establishment, a 
kind of " store " for things in general, with a small warehouse on the 
little wooden quay, formed the business section of Lierdal ; whilst the 
station, a few large houses, the telegraph office, and a military esta- 
blishment constitute the semi-suburban element. It is all in miniature, 
and, placed on a fiat, surrounded by mountains not far apart, looks 
really most insignificant. There were, however, nearly two hundred 
soldiers here, including militia, and recruiting appeared to be going 
on briskly. There were about half-a-dozen of the officers staying at 
the station, who politely asked us to join their table at dinner the next 
day, and though all conversation was by means of a combination of 
English, Norsk, and French, I do not remember for many a day to 
have passed so cheerful an hour. We drank to Gamle Norge, and our 
Norwegian friends toasted " Old England " with genuine hurrahs, 
such as I had thought before could only have been heard at home. 
They are a fine hearty people, and so far as we have experienced, love 
the English. 



106 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

On the shore of the fjord, near the little quay, were many boats, 
undergoing the usual annual overhauling for the summer season. The 
boatmen of the Sogne and Hardanger Fjords are a hardy race. Six, 
eight, and ten hours of almost uninterrupted rowing we had several 
times (in the Hardanger, with a heavy sea), as I have related. A quid 
of tobacco whilst at work ; and during the short intervals for eating, 
flad-brod, raw bacon, and sour milk in large quantities, are their 
nourishment and stimulants on the water ; and our experience would 
justify the conclusion that they are sober, honest, and cheerful. The 
Hardanger boatmen all wear a knife ; in the Sogne Fjord I did not 
observe any. 

From Lierdalsoren we took boat to Ronnei, at the head of the 
Gaupne Fjord, a remote ramification of the great Sogne Fjord. It is a 
distance of about 28 miles. This was pulled over in about six hours, 
including the short stoppage for dinner. Our boatmen were hearty 
fellows, rowing with the regularity of a machine, with lively chat, and 
the occasional humming of a Norwegian air. The youngest of these 
men was 29 years old, a strapping man of six feet ; the others beyond 
middle age — one 54, the eldest 61, but he strong and vigorous, and 
apparently with a score of years' good work in his sinewy arms. 

It is a magnificent sail across this part of the Sogne Fjord. The 
distant mountains are of great height — four, five, and six thousand 
feet, topped with unbroken snow, while those contiguous to the lake 
are often covered with thick pine forests. 

As we sail along a reach of the fjord we catch grand views of the 
sombre Aardals Fjord and the far-distant peaks of the Horungerne 
range of mountains, the loftiest in Norway. Turning into the Lyster 
Fjord, we shortly pass Solvorn, beautifully situated on a curve of the 
mountain. Its bright green patches of corn field and meadow, the 
red tiled, whitewashed station, and a thin line of road traced up the 
centre of the ascending valley, contrast agreeably with the near rugged 
mountain sides and broad background of snow. At each turn here- 
abouts the latest seems the best, and grander scenes to expand. We 
are nearing the loftiest ranges, and the fjords narrow as they pass into 
the valleys. Soon we turn into the Gaupne Fjord, and passing 
Marifjoren, most picturesquely straggling up a gentle acclivity, come 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 107 

upon Ronnei, as the setting sun lights up the mountain heights on the 
opposite shore with golden fire. 

It is a calm, clear summer night. The orange tints linger on the 
mountain tops, and every hill and rock is sharply defined against the 
light blue heaven. A solitary star shines faintly in the western sky, 
the birds still gently sing ; the air is very still ; the rich golden glow 
is no more, but soft twilight rests upon the scene, and we feel that the 
spirit of beauty has passed over the earth. It is nearly eleven o'clock, 
as I write, in the Ronnei station, looking out of our little room upon 
this calm picture, yet sufficiently light, and pleasantly warm. 

Shortly after this, the Skyds-skaffer entered to say that our horses 
were ready, and we started on our excursion up the Justedalen. The 
road, alongside the clear river which flows down the valley, is, after 
the first mile or two, very irregular and broken. As we advance up 
the vale, giant rocks on either hand cast down their vast shadows 
upon the twilight, and for a short time we experience the gloom of 
night. In the stillness of the woods, as we move quietly along, the 
horses feeling their way over the rough stones, the rushing river is the 
only voice, and he sings an exciting song. From the far off snows 
and fields of ice he hurries wildly to the warm and sheltered fjord. 

The path shortly crosses a hill that almost blocks up the valley, 
covered with thick wood ; yet as we come upon little openings in the 
forest, we see the immense rocks above us, and occasionally the path 
is traced upon the edge of the hill, overhanging the roaring river, and 
we look down upon frightful depths. It is extremely grand. Now we 
descend into a long flat, in which are two or three farms, with much 
cattle and numerous goats. The river is very noisy here. From one 
of these green luscious patches we see, as we look up towards the 
western sky, a thin line of red fire resting on the snow, — Earth's 
crimson blush, awakened by the Morn. In the east thin lines of bright 
red vapour float high in the heavens. A flush of deeper yellow comes 
throbbing up behind the hill, and with radiant pulsation, 

" Day, like a mighty river, rushes in." 
Still our small cavalcade moves on, now deep in the dale in the shadow 
of vast rocks, wildly fantastical ; now climbing a steep path through 
darkened woods, thick with luxuriant growth of loftiest pines. We 



108 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



arc moving amidst the indescribable sublimities of nature, and, in the 
presence of this manifestation of God, gaze with eager yet reverential 
eye. The hours advance, and, as the morning sun rises to flood his 
light across the vale, vapour and thick cloud strive for the mastery. 
It is almost cold, and we begin to fear the clouds. We have now 
reached the Praestegaard and church of the Justedal, about twenty-one 
miles from Ronnei. It is nearly six o'clock. The good rector of this 
remote parish is veiy kind, and we are soon in the enjoyment of his 
hospitality. Coffee is set before us. Upon coming into the house for 
repose we discover that we are very cold, and feel that the loss of rest 
and the long ride are matters of hard dry fact, not to be shirked. At 
the pressing suit of the good man, I turn in for a couple of hours' sleep. 
Wisely recommended. Punctually to the time, we are called by our 
host ; but, alas ! to what a change of scene. No sun, no sky, no 
distant snow-clad mountains ; only the dimly looming masses of 
mountain and rock that form the outer walls of this great valley. 
Thick clouds lie heavily over head, and along the hills drag white 
vapours, drifting lower and lower ; the rain is falling furiously, and our 
horses are shivering at the door. 

One great object of our visit to the Justedal was to see the Nygaard 
glacier, one of the largest in Norway, about nine or ten miles higher 
up the valley. After much anxious deliberation and advice from the 
Rector, whose decided opinion was that to go on would yield nothing 
but fatigue, we determined upon a return. We visited the church 
or " temple,'' as the good priest called it, a most primitive little place, 
the pews and other woodwork painted most fantastically red and 
black. On the tiny altar were two or three half-burned thick tallow 
candles, and some half-dozen common wine bottles. Everything was 
of the very rudest description, eloquent of its isolated situation. Yet 
even to this remote and unfrequented spot, the great tidings of the 
noble Garibaldi's work had been carried ; and the manly grip with 
which the good pastor shook our hands, and literally danced with 
delight about the room when we told him that Palermo was in the 
patriot's possession, was deeply affecting. It was an experience I shall 
never forget, and shall always look back upon with feelings of deeper 
gratitude to God and love to man. 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 109 

We reached Ronnei in the afternoon, somewhat dispirited,very wet and 
fagged, but impressed with the marvellous grandeur of the Justedalen. 
At Ronnei station, the Interlachcn of our ramble, we received the 
most considerate attention, and cannot speak too warmly of the quiet, 
unobtrusive manner of the people. The material comforts of a foot- 
bath, daintily wrought slippers, nicely cooked game and aromatic 
coffee, with the higher hearteasing enjoyments of cheerful voices 
and kind tranquil faces, gave our imaginations full license for the 
belief that this evening was an hour's Norwegian dream. The next 
morning early we resumed our boat ; the same men who had brought 
us having bargained with us to have the return fare ; and after another 
delicious six hours' ride, reached our late pleasant quarters at 
Lierdalsoren. 

During the afternoon, we shouldered our knapsacks once more, and 
trudged on from Lierdal, pausing a few minutes to watch the evolutions 
of the military on parade. We walked along the valley of the Lierdals 
Elv, which appears to have been in remote ages a continuation of the 
fjord, and is even now, for a considerable distance, very little elevated 
above the level of the water. Accumulations of earth, in terrace-like 
mounds, also indicate a past era of deeper water. As we penetrate 
the valley, the road ascends, and even after the wondrous Justedalen, 
is yet grand and exciting. We had a very pleasant walk to Lysne, 
about eight or nine miles from Lierdalsoren ; and here we made 
acquaintance with the genuine roadside Norwegian station. It was a 
small farm, a short way off the road, with nothing to mark its special 
character ; and we should have passed by, but a lad, with the return 
mail cart (four-wheeled and small), whose acquaintance we made on 
the road, took us there. 

The apartment for travellers was small, well lighted (all the houses 
in Norway have plenty of light, with few curtains), and, quite an 
exceptional occurrence, we found the windows open. In the room 
were the bed, several wooden-seated chairs, a cupboard, painted in a 
curious grotesque style, red and white ; a looking-glass, and stove. 
The walls, ceiling, and floor, of bare deal boards. We found excellent 
beer, and a loaf of sweet rye bread. On these we supped, deciding to 
remain for the night. The weather looked threatening, a rising wind, 



110 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

with much cloud surging wildly round the mountain heights. Opposite 
to the window at which I sat was a fine foss— a single stream, dashing 
over a ledge of rock, with a clear fall of probably 200 feet or more — 
the Hoa Foss, not noticed in the guide books, but sufficiently beautiful 
to make the fortunes of half a dozen innkeepers if in Cumberland, 
North Wales, or Devon. 

I do not remember any book of travel in Norway that omits to 
mention, either prominently or otherwise, the perpetual annoyance 
from fleas and a more disagreeable creature ; and I had hoped from 
our experience to have been able, in a limited circle, to have corrected 
what began to appear to be a national prejudice and delusion. But 
my comrade, upon casually turning down the sheets at an early 
hour, called my attention to the fact that the Philistines would soon 
be upon us if we went to bed ; so we began to consider how to sleep 
without " going to bed." Luckily, the table had two huge laps, and 
placing our knapsacks as pillows, we rolled ourselves in our plaids, 
and without undressing, stretched at full length upon the table, were 
soon asleep. 

We awoke at an early hour, and after very limited lavations, 
doubled up our bed, and took a quiet hour or two at these hastily 
written notes. It was a wet morning ; we had still a piece of the 
previous night's loaf; with this and a cup of tea we made our 
breakfast. 

Upon asking for a further supply of bread (butter was evidently a 
myth), we found there was nothing in the house but one old loaf, like 
a brick, which the woman, with a doubtful smile, produced. It was 
clearly time to be moving, though still very wet and darkly threatening. 
We paid our modest bill of a mark and a half (is. 4d.), and trudged on. 

The rain continued, somewhat interfering with our enjoyment of 
the fine scenery of this valley, which is highly attractive— of a like 
character, as to broad outline, to the Justedal, although not so grand. 
At Husum, the rain increasing, we obtained horses and the carts of 
the country— small wooden things, without springs, that shake your 
interior viscera in excruciating style. With these we pushed along, 
ascending rapidly towards Haeg by zig-zags, skilfully constructed on 
the mountain face. 




Near Husum. 




Near BORGUND. 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. HI 



On this stage we passed the most singular old church of Borgund, 
with its quaint and separate bell tower. It stands a little distance 
from the road, in the flat meadows of the valley, and is one of the 
most interesting buildings in Norway, entirely of wood, and certainly 
not less than six or seven hundred years old. Its appearance is a 
combination of the Chinese pagoda, with the Eastern mosque, and 
our "early English" cathedrals. Sir Charles Anderson, in his in- 
teresting journal, has written an able description, and gives an outline 
sketch of considerable merit. 

The rain was so heavy, with a violent and increasing wind, that our 
stay here was very brief. As we jogged on, the river was foaming 
down the valley, and the mountain streams, tearing down from their 
lofty sources, literally filled the air with the noise of many waters. At 
Haeg we changed horses, just peeping into the station, a much better 
house than the one at Husum, from which we had been conducted by a 
most brigand looking personage. 

The next stage, Haeg to Maristuen, was a scene of wild grandeur ; 
the roaring river, now swollen and lashed into the fury of a mountain 
torrent, came with terrible force and reality past us as we drove 
excitedly along. As we ascended the approaches to the Fille Fjeld the 
waters were still more furious, the rain falling in a stream. Here and 
there the torrents from the hills had crossed the road, and the river 
was fast rising to within a few inches from the top of its rock-bound 
limits. The moors and mountains were covered with driving mist and 
a thick heavy canopy of clouds. As we neared Maristuen the road 
was cut up with a mountain torrent, and we waded up to the horse's 
knees ; and a little beyond this point, and down an incline in the road, 
the water had rushed from the hills, and was tearing up the post road, 
making it into a water-course. As our horses strained over the 
upheaved stones, and the dashing water rushed by up to our axles, it 
was navigating rather than driving, and I began to realise the fearful 
effects of a storm on the bleak heights to which we were going. At 
last, wet and weary, we arrived at Maristuen, where we found the house 
topsy-turvy from the flood. The inmates from the surrounding dwellings 
had come for shelter here, bringing with them their bedding, and even 
here the rain was in several places pouring through the roof. There 



112 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

were some twenty souls assembled in this house, the only shelter from 
the unabating storm. Here in the warm, stove-heated, common room 
we sat and took tea, contributing much to the amusement of the 
various members of the motley group, who were curious to watch how 
Englishmen did the simplest things ; and chattering as far as we were 
able, aided by looks and gesture, we felt most thoroughly, " One touch 
of nature makes the whole world kin." During the long night " the 
rain descended and the floods came and beat against that house." 
Fortunately for all of us, it was founded upon a rock, and a little 
sheltered by neighbouring undulations that broke the rude shock of 
the wind, and turned the water currents aside. In the early morning 
we saw that the force of the storm had been spent, by the decreased 
volume of water rushing along the almost river-road. We therefore 
ordered horses, carriole, and cart, and in the rain once more pushed 
on (encased now in oilskins and waterproofs, lent to us by the good 
people here), towards Nystuen, on the Fille Fjeld. 

The scenery was extremely wild, with long stretches of moorland ; 
now a wide uncultivated valley, with a few sasters far apart ; now the road 
rises on to the hill side, dotted with stunted and gnarled birch trees, 
scarcely yet in leaf. The reindeer moss lies here in thick clumps, and 
many-coloured lichens paint the rocks. As we have dashed forward, 
the rain has gradually ceased to fall, and a gleam of sunshine lights 
up the vast plateau of the Fille Fjeld, the great patches of snow on 
every side glistening in the bright and glancing light. It is still 
blowing hard, and the rain dashes occasionally in our faces as we 
drive along the undulating wilds. By-and-by we are met by two men, 
who speak to the driver of the cart in advance, with serious faces, 
looking toward the mountain side before us. There is evidently 
something of very grave import. The driver says that we cannot 
proceed, — that water floods the road. But we persist, and at length 
move on again, one of the men coming with us. Now the road is 
covered with water, but the stones on each side, and the poles of the 
telegraph, which is carried overland from Christiana to Bergen, 
sufficiently indicate its whereabouts ; so, venturing almost up to the 
horses' girths, we pass safely over. If that is all, what a fuss, we think, 
and away we drive another mile or so. Then the driver gets off and 



v^vw;; Ki£ , 



i 










■ ^ i 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 113 



resolutely ties up his reins, and says he shall go on no more. The 
mountain side has come down with the force of the flood, and, crossing 
the road, has ploughed it up, carrying earth and rocks and trees before 
it ; and for thirty or forty yards what was the road is a heap of rocks 
and mud water-courses. Still, we wish to go forward, and, a strong 
man taking our knapsacks on his back, we scramble carefully over the 
broken rocks and debris^ following the steps of our guide, who, with 
long staff, cautiously feels his way. 

A short distance, and the same havoc is before us again, and yet 
again, before we arrive at the station, which is not more than a mile 
from where we left our carrioles. At length we reach the Nystuen 
station, a comfortable place ; the hale old man who carries our " traps,'' 
and who has piloted us across the wrecks, is the station master. 

He relates to us how terrible a night he has had ; no sleep, but 
saddest anticipations. On each side his house, at a short distance, 
one of these fearful descents from the mountains had rushed down, 
threatening to sweep houses and every living thing into the lake just 
below the road. " Ah ! it was frightsome," said he ; " at seven last 
night that came down, and at three this morning that other great 
torrent," pointing to the one we had last crossed. 

How thankful I am that we have escaped these dangers ; may we 
be preserved from any that are in the future ! 

By the old man's counsel we have remained here all day, hoping 
that the road will be less soft to-morrow after the sun and wind of this 
morning. It has been very promising all day ; but now, at seven 
o'clock, the wind is again south-west, and the rain is heavy. As I 
write and look out of the window I can count the track of five of those 
sweeping destructive mountain torrents over whose desolations we 
shall have to scramble ; and our old friend tells us there will be many 
more as we go down, as they would have the storm still heavier on 
the other side. 

The scene here, apart from the recent events, is one of the sheerest 

desolation. Snow is all around us in very thick patches ; the sky is 

leaden dull ! no vegetation clothes the mountains — they are almost 

barren rocks ; and here, in the bosom of these solitudes, is a wide lake, 

almost covered with massive ice. 

8 



114 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

Within doors, however, the picture is more cheerful. My friend sits 
writing, at the same table, opposite to me ; we have our maps and 
books about us, and have had some hours of quiet indoor pleasures. 
On one side the room are two nice beds, clean and tidy ; a washing 
table, &c, in the corner ; several homely chairs, and a small square 
table, at which we dined, and to which we shall shortly adjourn for tea. 
At my elbow, on the wall, is a portrait of our hostess, a nice motherly 
woman ; and over her is an engraving of Her Most Gracious Majesty 
Victoria, by the grace of God, Queen. There is also, against the wall, 
a rather handsome mirror, for these remote regions, and at my back a 
fantastically painted three-cornered cupboard. We are each in our 
shirt sleeves, and without shoes. I have not undergone the " domestic 
surgery " of a shave for several days, and I discarded braces for a 
strap round the waist a fortnight ago. Neckties and collars are nearly 
obsolete. At the other end of the room is a large stove, in which we 
have lighted a good fire, and arranged round it on chairs are our coats 
and plaids. On lines of thick twine, artistically constructed, we have 
suspended our shirts, stockings, and pocket handkerchiefs ; whilst, in 
the centre, from the ceiling, like a joint of meat, or a clock pendulum, 
hangs my felt hat, that at an early hour this morning was reduced to 
the consistency of a soft oatmeal cake. In a row, like an advanced 
guard to this army of rags, are placed our boots and shoes, well 
greased or oiled for the expected rain of to-morrow. As I write this 
picture, another feature is added to the room ; the maiden enters, and 
is now busily employed in arranging the beds and bedding for the night. 
She is dressed more like an English girl than is usual here, and not 
nearly so picturesque a subject as her mother, who is going about in a 
pair of bright scarlet stockings and short petticoats, with braided hair 
and blue bodice. 

After a few hours' uneasy sleep I rose, about three o'clock, to the 
gloomy prospect of heavy rain, which continued incessantly until 
about six o'clock. 

The good old skaffer found us a strong man to assist in carrying 
our knapsacks, and about seven o'clock we started the descent, our old 
friend giving us his heartiest good wishes, and gazing long after us. By 
taking a boat along the edge of the lake, across the surface of which 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. Ho 

the ice had been drifted by the wind during the night to the other end, 
we escaped the crossing of two or three of the " screyas nearest to 
Nystuen. The clouds slowly lifted, and occasional breaks showed 
some slight promise of fair weather. As we slowly descended from 
the fjeld, the rocks uplifted their dark and jagged peaks, and the scene 
that unfolded before us was one of wild, desolate grandeur. The 
snow, at a short walk from Nystuen, spread across the road, and we 
frequently came upon patches, six or eight feet thick, winding along 
the hollows like small glaciers. As we descended into the deep valley, 
whose river is one channel for the waters from the immense area of 
these vast fjelds, the extent of the storm was slowly disclosed. The 
road was quite impassable. We had given up considering the number 
of mere obstructions from fallen rocks and earth, for the water had 
overflowed its usual bounds, covering the road deeply, and we were 
obliged to ascend the mountain side, and scramble through the woods. 
This was repeated several times. Still lower down in the valley, on 
the opposite side to that on which we walked, were several villages, 
and from the heights above them the rain had poured in such a deluge 
as to bring away masses .of the mountain side, ploughing into it deep 
furrows, and spreading desolation and terror in its way. The river 
had become a vast yellow lake, with a tumultuously heaving current 
through its centre, trees and broken wood, the remains of the bridge 
across the valley, floating upon its surface. 

Huge banks of mud and stones surrounded the dwellings, where 
patches of corn and bright green meadows had smiled in the sunshine 
but a day or two ago. Here and there the ruins of a little cluster of 
houses thrust themselves out of the debris. Over the valley, with 
looks of complete helplessness, wandered men and women, some in 
search of their scattered herds, and others gazing with hopeless 
looks upon the desolate scene. As we passed the little farms alongside 
our road, the man would stop to say a word or two to the women who 
came forward to the gate, and the rough faces trembled with emotion 
as they looked into each other's tearful eyes. It was most melancholy. 
Sadly and silently we walked, and in sight of that dreadful calamity 
and human suffering, I wondered how the sun could shine. 

Still lower down the vale, and on the shores of a lake, great patches of 



IK) THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



the mountain side, with acres of pine forest, had slid down and been 
washed away in the tremendous storm. The telegraph poles, hitherto, 
as it were by a marvel, uninjured, were at this point carried away, and 
the wire, for a long distance, twirled like horsehair. At Ouamme, 
three or four miles from the scene of the greatest havoc, the stone 
bridge had been carried away ; and on the opposite shores of the Lille 
Mjosen Vand, besides the destruction of many houses, cattle, and 
much property, several persons were overwhelmed by the mountain 
streams, and drowned. 

From Ouamme, we slowly scrambled, with a man to carry our small 
baggage, until near Thume, through scenes of beauty and grandeur 
that, under less painful conditions and feelings, would have been most 
enjoyable. 

At a small farm in the woods, under the shadow of immense rocks, 
loftier than Snowdon, and almost precipitous at their summits, we 
obtained refreshment of rich milk, with flad-brod, for three persons, 
surrounded by the cheerful faces of a large and wondering family, as 
we sat upon a ledge of moss-carpeted rock. At our departure, I asked 
the man what we must pay him, and, after a little delay, took from my 
pocket a handful of coin, and requested him to help himself, purposely 
placing the larger pieces nearest to him. He took a four skilling 
piece (2d. value), and walked with us a quarter of a mile to point out 
the way. When I first entered the cottage he had the big old Bible 
before him on the table ; it was Sunday. 

Near Thume we met with a boatman, who took us over the lake to 
Oyloe. As we sailed over the water, gusts of hot air blew in our faces, 
dark clouds quickly gathered, and a heavy thunderstorm broke over 
the hills ; the lightning glancing on the mountain peaks, with the 
bellowing thunder, adding to our melancholy sympathy for the poor 
villagers we had left behind us, and contributing not a little to our own 
personal anxiety. 

At Oyloe we found, as the handbook faithfully records, "a wretched 
house ; " but, weary and sad, we were glad to find ourselves under any 
shelter. The hopelessness of getting home in our limited time here 
seemed to get the better of us, and our spirits were depressed with the 
dismal prospect. A lake behind us, the road frequently flooded and 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 117 

occasionally submerged, and another bridge broken down within sight 
on the only road before us. Our only way out of this dilemma, we 
were informed, was over the pine-covered hills on the other side of the 
water. The station master promised to find for us in the morning a 
boat, and two men to undertake our knapsacks and guide us. And 
with such hard fare as the place afforded, we went to bed, but scarcely 
to sleep. For, in addition to our anxieties, the fleas, &c, here re-visited 
us ; and let philosophers teach transcendentalism as they please, the 
senses are absolute. 

I made intimate acquaintance here with the whole house ; it was 
dirty and slovenly everywhere. The mistress, a woman about forty, had 
been good-looking, but faded, and given, I am afraid, to stimulating 
drinks, which was the secret of all the disorder and discomfort. The 
man seemed decent and respectable — I was sorry for him. They had 
six children ; the eldest, a lad of seventeen, sharp, intelligent, and 
good-looking. Not a single clean piece of crockery in the house, not 
a pan but required washing, not a crumb of wholesome bread to set 
before us. There were two loaves, thick with rich green mould, which 
the woman assured us were good inside, and proceeded to pare. I 
saw her wipe the teacups on the lap of a shirt hanging to dry before 
the fire, and wipe a knife upon the corner of her dirty dress. Two 
small pigs nestled in the kitchen nook, and a naked little urchin coiled 
himself upon a chair before the fire. The water for our tea was boiled 
in a small cauldron which imparted a flavour unknown to the same 
package of tea, either at Voss or elsewhere. The eggs, of course, were 
clean ; but the spoons ! We here, for the first time, used our own — 
(we had taken with us knife, fork, and spoon). How so ill-conducted 
a place is allowed to remain a station, and practise its extortions upon 
travellers — for the price of all this was more than at the best stations 
in Norway — is a matter of astonishment. 

On Monday morning, about six o'clock, accompanied by the master 
and his son, we left the station at Oyloe, with thankfulness. We 
crossed the lake and walked several miles through forest, over broken, 
wet, and undulating ground, until we reached the highroad at a point 
only two miles from where we had set out. The bright sunny morning, 
the rich odours of the woods, and the spring of hope welling up within 



118 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

at the prospect of deliverance made this walk delicious ; and as we 
stepped upon the post road once more, with the assurance that the 
waters were passed, a thrill of gratitude passed over me, and I silently 
wept. 

Passing a small Niagara fall on our way, we came to Ste, where we 
obtained food, and shelter for a short time. Two students from 
Christiania, young athletes, called here (even they had been driven 
to carts by the weather), and we took their return car, a delightful drive 
up and down hill to Rein, the next station. 

From Rein we pushed on towards Strands, but ere we had made 
half the distance were informed that the roads were again impassable, 
the clouds had again gathered thickly, and in a very short time we 
were driving through a heavy thunderstorm, the lightning playing 
vividly in quick succession, with thunder heavily reverberating. Awhile 
we sought the shelter of a log hut (common near the roads), the poor 
horse trembling with terror as each successive peal of thunder rattled 
overhead. Again the gleam of promise, so often unfulfilled, and we 
were jogging on our way. Another stoppage, another pause, another 
boat ; when, by way of combining his own advantage with the lift he 
meant to favour us with in his own good time, the solitary boatman, 
at the bawling demand of a piratical fellow ashore, pulled out into the 
middle of the lake to fish and string together several timbers, which 
were slowly drifting away. After carefully securing them with a cord, 
he coolly towed them after us to the shore, and then, first landing his 
pirate friend, he took us on our way. 

The station at Strands, where we landed, is on the edge of a lake, 
or inland fjord. It is an excellent, well-conducted house, ruled by 
quite a motherly woman, who cared for our wants, and took delight 
in ministering to them ; with sufficiently unsophisticated nature to 
charge a just sum, to which her husband, a sharply qualified busi- 
ness man, added, with singular felicity, a large percentage. By this 
energetic skaffcr and the aid of a Norwegian gentleman (staying in the 
house), who could read English, our further progress was expedited ; 
and we again took boat to a point upon the lake, at which horse and 
car would meet us to carry us to Frydenlund, our destination for the 
night. 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. H"-> 



This was a fine drive along the mountain side, commanding 
extensive views of the long valley, the Strands Fjord, and its 
numerous islands, like another St. Lawrence, with the lofty, distant 
fjelds. At Frydenlund we had to rouse the house, but found very 
comfortable quarters. 

The next morning our friend, the rain, was as lively as ever, the 
air cooler, and the road soft and splashy. Tired with the sixteen or 
seventeen hours' incessant work of the previous day, we did not get 
fairly under weigh until near ten o'clock. 

The road still ascending, we had, in the intervals from rain and 
storm, magnificent views of the valley, lit up by occasional sun gleams ; 
the fjord still at our feet, embosomed in thickly-wooded hills. In fairer 
weather, with clearer skies and dry skins, this must be as beautiful to 
look upon as any scene in Norway ; and seen, as it is sometimes, from 
an elevation over which we had to climb— like an episode in our long 
day's poem — as high and toilsome to attain as Snowdon, it must be at 
sunset or sunrise sublime. 

With us it was, in another respect, like what the ascent of Snowdon 
or Ben Nevis too frequently results in — a sojourn in the clouds. 
True, we sometimes caught these ever-wonderful and beautiful effects 
of light displayed by the moving mists uplifting momentarily, like a 
curtain, but these magical peeps into a heaven below us were "few 
and far between." 

A couple of miles or so over the pass, as we descended into the 
next valley, the fringe of cloud was lifted, and we were shown a lovely 
picture, fresh from the Divine Artist's touch. Bathed in sunlight lay 
a richly-wooded valley, deep and broad, dotted with human dwellings, 
a spire-crowned church in the midst. Up the finely-sweeping braes 
grew thick pine forests, dark with massive foliage, and lofty as the 
clouds. A thin line of white, curved by the Mightiest Hand, waved 
through the vale, its liquid music mingling with the sighing woods, 
and reaching even the heights from which we looked. Into this 
loveliness we descended, and from thence looked back upon the steeps 
from whence we came, still fringed with trailing mists and dripping 
cloud. At Bruyflat we change horses, and rush on along the now 
almost level road to Tomlevold, a large station, quite a hostelry, with 



120 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

numerous outbuildings and large belfry. Again we are on the road, 
pass the exercise platz, where Norwegian irregulars are being drilled in 
the goose step — a step taken, alas, too prematurely by so sad a number 
of our fellow-creatures. On to Skoyen, another good comfortable 
station. We feel that we are approaching the confines of civilisation. 
We have actually just passed a dress coat on the road. What a guy 
he looked ! We are beginning to feel excited, as if we were almost at 
home, and our labours over ; for we have felt the last day or two that 
we are working hard, almost like sailing against wind and tide, to make 
a port. 

At Skoyen, during the change of horses, we obtained what we 
thought excellent, and what I hope the reader will not consider at this 
time stale, beer ; and during the day we had comforted the inner man 
at Bruyflat, with the flutte milk of Norway (an invaluable discovery I 
owed to my friend,), of which we largely skimmed the cream. It is 
the milk set aside for cheese, and is brought in large pails, with a top 
cream half an inch thick, and a layer of custard-like milk beneath ; 
this is eaten with sugar, and is as palatable as it is highly nutritive. 

From Skoyen we took horses again and trotted on towards Lien. 
This and the last three are all fast stations. A mile or more out of 
Skoyen, an extensive prospect opened before us. The noble Rands 
Fjord, calmly beautiful, reposing in the sheltered bosom of swelling 
hills. As we climbed the hills, this view of the Rands Fjord and the 
far-stretching valley of the Strands Fjorden beyond, with the snowy 
peaks of loftiest fjelds far away in the distance, the setting sun and the 
gathering masses of broken cloud filling the western heavens, showed 
us the characteristic beauties of eastern Norwegian scenes in sharp 
contrast to the grander and more vast masses of rock and water of 
the western coast. As a picture of quiet, placid, tranquil beauty, I 
think this prospect of the Rands Fjord by sunset was perhaps the 
finest we had looked upon, during what seemed to us to be our long 
travels here. To those who have leisure, and can afford the time, it 
must be a great delight to begin at Christiania, and thus by almost 
imperceptible degrees grow from the quiet undulations amidst which 
we have now arrived into those mighty gigantic forms and groupings 
which culminate in the Alpine sublimities nf the Fille Fjeld and the 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 121 

Justedal. Yet with us it was exceedingly beautiful to feel ourselves 
descending into regions where the amenities of life were to be enjoyed, 
and to the prospect of once more coming to sit by the side of and look 
on the faces of our friends at home. 

At Lien, we changed horses for Mustaed, and drove for an hour 
or more along a newly-constructed level road, through thick fir 
plantations. 

The station at Mustaed is of a very superior style to most that we 
have seen. It is nearer the capital, and a place of resort in summer 
for the Christiania people. Here we concluded to have a day's rest 
before entering Christiania, so as to be able to enjoy with freshness of 
body and mind the sight of so interesting a section of our plan. The 
interiors here are painted with delicate tints, with great care and in 
excellent taste. The rooms are large, well ventilated ; flooded with 
light, as I have before observed is the case generally in Norway. It 
is a large farm, and in the great yard, an acre at least in extent, are 
two huge wells, with the ancient method of raising water by a long 
lever fixed over a tall pole. 

Many carrioles stop here to change horses. We have had two 
Germans dining with us, who had set out for Drontheim and gone 
a stage on their journey, but having been driven back by the floods, 
turned into this, the route to the Fille Fjeld, without knowing that 
the same obstacles would meet them. The post, which should have 
passed us at Nystuen, has gone by, two days or more behind its time ; 
the north post is many days behind, and the Swedish mail has not 
been heard of for more than a week. A French count and his son 
also call, in the same predicament as our German acquaintances ; the 
count, quite a character, grandly commanding in a loud voice all near 
him, and expressing his determination to travel night and day to catch 
the steamer from Lierdalsoren on the night of the morrow. Even a 
French count, however, cannot roll back the storm, and the clouds 
still beat up from the south, and the rain falls furiously. Again and 
again travellers come and go, and we hear their news, with gloomy 
rumours of no steamers, and railways broken down. 

Thursday morning at the smallest hours finds us awake and restless ; 
the rain falling steadily, the wind south-west. It is a gloomy prospect. 



12-2 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



At five we breakfast, and in an hour are each driving a quick cream- 
coloured pony in the direction of Gjovik, on the Mjosen Vand. The 
road is still through the fir plantation through which we had driven the 
night before last, level and uninteresting. The rain has ceased now, 
and a broad band of promise overspreads the western sky. Occa- 
sionally we have glimpses of the Mjosen Lake ; now we dip into a 
sweet dell for a few minutes ; then the road runs flat again, and we 
drive into Gjovik about eight o'clock. 

It is half submerged by the floods ; quite a populous place ; at least 
a hundred or more houses and shops ; evidently a new and thriving 
little town. We walk up the hill, after leaving our carrioles, and obtain 
new views of the extensive lake, — a soft, cultivated scene, — a vast 
Windermere. From Lillehammer, at its head, to Eidsvold, at the 
foot, the Mjosen Vand is nearly eighty miles long down its centre. 
The steamers that ply up and down, skirting its shores, and calling at 
some half-dozen small towns and stations on their way, make a voyage 
each way daily of 120 miles. 

At Hamer, on the eastern shore, about midway down the lake, the 
effects of the great storm and floods were very marked. We had 
previously passed the church at Naes, surrounded with water to a 
depth of several feet ; but here half the town was uninhabitable, 
except in the upper storeys of the houses. The entire length of the 
town was submerged to the height of the middle of the shop windows, 
and boats moved about from street to street and house to house, to 
carry the inmates away. In many places the people could only just 
escape wetting on the first floor. 

The water was still rising ; since yesterday it had gained six inches ; 
the day before twelve inches. On the Sunday gone by, the water had 
begun to rise an inch and a half per hour, and continued at that rate for 
forty-eight hours or more. The people were fast becoming terror 
stricken. There had been no such flood since the year 1789, the captain 
of the steamer informed us ; the lake was now higher by 38 feet than 
its ordinary level, with every probability, in case of warmer weather, 
which would bring down rapidly the yet unmelted snows, of a further 
rise. "There were, therefore," the captain said, "no travellers what- 
soever, except foreigners like yourself, who will or must go on, whatever 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 123 

is in the way." This great increase in the elevation of the surface of 
the water would doubtless affect the aspect of the country, which, to 
us, appeared tame. The land on the shores of the Mjosen is well 
cultivated, and is considered of the best in Norway. There are 
several very large farms hereabouts, and one or two extensive 
breweries. 

Eidsvold is prettily situated at the foot of the lake ; indeed it is a 
few miles up the river, in ordinary times a narrow stream running out 
of the lake, but now all is one undistinguishable broad expanse of 
water. The hotel, many houses, the railway stations, and the bridges 
are all under water. We are taken by the steamboat as near as 
practicable to the mouth of the railway tunnel, and thence conveyed 
in small boats up the tunnel, half filled with water. Then we walk 
along trucks over which planks are placed for footing, and by-and-by 
emerge from this unsatisfactory position upon dry land, and walk 
along the rails to the train, about half a mile distant. It is a single 
line of rails ; in other respects we might be at home. The engine is a 
Stephenson, and the carriages have an English maker's name. The 
officials are clothed on English models, and our tickets manufactured 
ditto. In the matter of speed only do we perceive a falling off, and in 
this we are much behind even English parliamentary trains. There 
is no hurry, no banging of doors, and wild screeching of the eager 
engine ; all is done calmly and methodically. In fact, I do not 
remember in all the country to have seen a Norwegian in a hurry. It 
is an inconceivable condition. 

The greater proportion of the road runs through dense pine forests, 
the noblest we have seen. The loftiest pines, and so thickly growing 
as to shut out the bright sunlight streaming from the west, and 
reddening the distant eastern hills with its rich glow. 

In one part the rails were twelve or fifteen inches under water, for 
about a quarter of a mile ; and the country for many miles was one 
vast lake. We saw several rafts and numerous boats, crowded with 
people and their goods. Once or twice we saw them escaping to the 
rafts through the roofs of the water-surrounded houses. It was a 
distressing sight, and filled us with melancholy. 

We left Eidsvold at half-past five ; and at about half-past nine we 



124 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 

arc gently descending an incline from which we look down upon the 
capital of Norway, beautifully placed at the head of the great Chris- 
tiania Fjord. It is still bright with the glow of the setting sun as we 
stroll along the modern streets of this once quaint city. The great 
fires of recent years have cleared away most of the old timber 
houses, and there are now long lines of fine shops and warehouses, 
as in an English town. We seek the Victoria Hotel, an excellent 
hostelry, and after an enjoyable supper, quickly ready, wander out 
once more. 

A Norwegian acquaintance we had made on board the Mjosen 
steamer takes us towards the palace, finely situated on the high 
ground, with approaching slopes that form pleasant walks for the 
citizens. Then we visit the Klinkenberg, the Cremorne of Christiania ; 
and in an atmosphere of tobacco smoke, reeking with the odours of 
schnapps and beer, listen to a few songs, amorous and otherwise, from 
a company of German vocalists, the fair members of which appear to 
have great attractions to young Christiania, who laughingly chats to 
the particular fair one whose turn it is to take round the tray 
for the shillings each person is expected to contribute after each 
song. 

We adjourn from this place, passing on our way the Theatre, the 
Bank of Norway, and several other public buildings, to the Free- 
masons' Hall, a similar institution to the one we have left, minus the 
gardens of innocence so nicely described by Mr. Williams as 
surrounding the Klinkenberg. 

At the Freemasons' Hall, in addition to the smoke, schnapps, and 
love ditties of three Norwegian, German, and Swedish syrens, accom- 
panied and conducted by a monster basso profundo, there was also 
the educational assistance of a large billiard table. 

My own unsophisticated impression of these "innocent recreations" 
was, that " fast " young men are the same in Christiania as in other 
places ; and that " women and wine " are pretty much the same now 
as they were in the days of Alcibiades or the patriarchs. 

The next day we had only a few hours, and these were quickly gone 
in a ramble through the shops, picking up two or three trifles to bring 
away : in running down to the pleasant baths, and plunging into the 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 125 

open and refreshing fjord ; in sauntering round the quays, where many 
ships are moored, and in watching the stream of life flow slowly past 
the window of our hotel. 

The influence of general intercourse with the world has taken away 
from Christiania the distinguished outward characteristics of Nor- 
wegian manners and customs, and contrasts very markedly with 
Bergen and the western districts. There we had often remarked upon 
the almost Tartar type of face ; and frequently observed how Eastern- 
like were the women's dresses and the shape of buildings. The almost 
sacred feelings of hospitality to strangers, too, had something Eastern 
in their manifestation ; reminding us, in fact, in many ways of that 
great wave of human life which ages ago had swept over Europe from 
the distant East, the cradle of our race, and which in its ebb and flow 
had carried to the North those Gothic hordes, of which the Scandi- 
navian family is probably the least altered modern type. 

At Christiania I should recommend the Victoria as the best hotel ; 
we met with every attention, although our appearance was deci- 
dedly " seedy ; " the charges moderate, excellent fare, and pleasant 
company. 

In the afternoon, about five, the Scandinavian slowly steamed out 
of the harbour, amidst much waving of handkerchiefs and " Farvels." 
The domestic and social ties are very close in Norway. I do not 
remember ever to have seen so quietly-demonstrative a crowd as that 
which waved us its adieux from Christiania. As we steamed down the 
fjord, the view of the receding city was most pleasing. Placed in the 
centre of a semicircle formed by pine-covered mountains ; its buildings 
descending to the water's edge, crowded with the shipping of various 
nations : the streets rising terrace-like, with the great palace of the 
king prominent over all ; with fine spires interspersed, and the great 
dome of the Cathedral Church giHed with the rays of the setting sun, 
in bright contrast to the deeper orange and purple tints of the distant 
mountains — it was a lovely picture to carry away with one's last look 
of the land where we had enjoyed so much that was beautiful. And 
when all this had passed out of sight, and the dark forms of the hills 
and mountains outlined themselves against the clear western sky, and 
the clouds hurried away and rolled themselves massively in the East, 



126 THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



and the evening deepened into night, and the air became clearer, the 
distant rocky coast more strongly marked, the rich tints of sunset more 
glowing, and the crescent moon of that longest day in June looked 
faintly through the golden halo of the skies — we realized the full 
depth of beauty of that picture to which we had so long looked forward, 
of midnight on the Christiania Fjord. 

We touched at Christiansand on our homeward passage. It is a 
very clean, quiet little fishing town, with more costume visible than in 
Christiania, and the houses are mostly of wood. 

Again we move out, and steam across the wild North Sea ; the wind 
is in our teeth, and by-and-by we are struggling against a gale. We 
have roughish work from Saturday night to Monday morning, when 
we sight the low shores of York and Lincoln, and by four o'clock in 
the afternoon cast anchor in the H umber, opposite to the massive tower 
of Trinity Church, Hull. 



We have been away twenty-four days. Our expenses, when we 
reach Manchester, will have been ^21 each ; more than £11 each of 
which has been consumed in going to and from Norway. £20 was 
more than sufficient for both of us during our sojourn there for every- 
thing. I should say that £2$ would be ample funds for a month, and 
would be sufficient to cover the preparatory expenses of a knapsack, 
map, roadbook, vocabulary, light silk waterproof cape, — in short, 
everything necessary for the expedition. 

My outfit consisted of a suit of shepherd's plaid, lined throughout 
with flannel ; two figured flannel shirts, three pairs of woollen socks, a 
change of shoes, brushes, razor, note book, map, dictionary, solid sketch 
book, writing materials, and a thick Scotch plaid. 

It is a great saving of time, and very desirable before leaving 
home, to write out as complete a plan as possible of the route to be 
taken, in which each day's work is allotted, with an occasional day 
for rest. 

It has now been demonstrated that, even for men engaged in close 
attention to business, which in Manchester, where gold is God, and 

-o 



THREE WEEKS IN NORWAY. 



127 



where work is consequently carried on at a higher pressure than 
elsewhere, a visit to grand old Norway is quite practicable, and, with 
a little preparation, easy ; and I am disposed to think at a less average 
expense than to any other country, or, with the same continuous 
movement, in any part of our own attractive land. 

Should the appearance of these very imperfect sketches, written 
entirely during our excursion, become the means of inducing others to 
go and do something of the kind, and so in a certain remote way help 
to bind together, by increased intercourse, two nations so intimately 
connected by descent, it will be one more lasting source of satisfaction 
to the writer and his comrade, connected with their Three Weeks' 
Ramble in Norway. 



«%„£ 




James F. Wilkinson, Printer, The Guttenberg Works, Ellor Street, Pendleton 
and at 34, Oxford Street, Manchester. 










^ 



^ 



♦ ' 



C 310 88 






J 






c°\'^: 



>* .tAV^.. *«. *♦ .V 



> '-Sk-' /\ vW* ♦**% '-SK ; 4?\ W 









* Sj^tjfc. %/ Sifo. \/ :^ : %<? :\ 



A «-°.^^:> ,//^;^\ ^^^*°o 






► /^fe\ V>* *V\Va\ ^ ^ 


















1°. *^^ 






h % ^ •£ 









% 

























o. 









«? ^ oVJIaf* aV ♦. »®liB* <■? ^ oVJrak* aV «$v 






HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC 



■v ^H\k * av y> 

J? \5. *o.t* A ^ 

aO ^ *»,-.« 

JC\^* 4T ^» •^ii^* a5> ? <■& 




AUG 88 

N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 




^ * * o, *> 



•ft.' l i» -• -vr- _ - 



